The East is different, isn’t it? – Poland and Hungary in search of prestige

Abstract

ABSTRACT This cross-disciplinary contribution asks, why the erosion of rule of law as part of the democratic backlash has taken place in ‘Eastern Europe’. It is argued that the question is about prestige, in which Poland and Hungary are struggling for a greater status and social recognition as ‘middle powers’. In this search of prestige long history matters, and prestige and power is easily considered to have a priority before the rule of law, as practice before theory, and ‘realism’ before ‘liberalism’. At first, the article revisits the politics of cartography and updates debates of naming, as the concepts of ‘Eastern Europe’, ‘Central Europe’, or ‘East Central Europe’ remain contested. Furthermore, the experience of difference is located in ideas of separating ‘East’ and ‘West’ and to the status of democracy on the continent. As the article particularly compares Poland and Hungary, special chapters are dedicated to their centuries old histories and mutual friendship. Empirical examples come from current discussions on ‘illiberal’ and ‘flawed’ democracy as the Polish Three Seas Initiative.