Are Orbánism and Social Liberalism the same thing?

Measured across six independent axes they are 24.9 apart out of a possible 49.0, which is opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on EC. They diverge by eight points or more on CU, AU, ID.

Atlas / Comparisons / Orbánism vs Social Liberalism

Orbánism and Social Liberalism

Measured distance across six axes

24.9 / 49.0 possible

Opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on EC. They diverge by eight points or more on CU, AU, ID.

Axis by axis

Axis	Fidesz	Rawlsian liberalism	Gap		Reading
EC · Economic organisation	+04	+01	3	Agrees	Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about.
CU · Social and cultural order	+08	−06	14	Diverges	Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this.
AU · Organisation of power	+07	−06	13	Diverges	Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this.
SC · Scale of decision	+06	+02	4	Differs	Real difference, but not the dividing line.
ID · Rule of membership	+07	−07	14	Diverges	Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this.
CH · Method and tempo	−01	−07	6	Differs	Real difference, but not the dividing line.

Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →

The evidence behind the widest gaps

A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.

Fidesz · CU +08

Coded +8: Christian national identity written into the constitution and into family and education law.

Documented act or statuteThe 2011 Fundamental Law defines marriage as between a man and a woman and invokes Christianity in its preamble.
Documented act or statuteA 2021 law restricted depiction of homosexuality and gender reassignment to minors.

Rawlsian liberalism · CU −06

Coded −6: equal basic liberties as lexically prior to everything else.

Programme textThe first principle of justice takes priority over the distributive one in Rawls's ordering.

Fidesz · AU +07

The reference case for the entry. Elections are real and the institutions that could reverse their outcome have been restructured.

Documented act or statuteThe 2011 constitution and subsequent amendments restructured the constitutional court and the judicial appointment system.
Documented act or statuteThe 2018 consolidation of some four hundred outlets into a single foundation removed most independent broadcast and print media.

1 more artefact on the full entry →

Rawlsian liberalism · AU −06

Coded −6: entrenched rights and judicial review.

Programme textThe framework places basic liberties beyond ordinary majority revision.

What this comparison does not establish

Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.

Orbánism

2010– · Hungary

Explicitly 'illiberal democracy': majority rule unconstrained by liberal checks, Christian national identity, opposition to immigration.

Social Liberalism

1971– · Global North

Equal basic liberties first, then fair equality of opportunity, then inequalities only where they benefit the worst off.

Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.

Open in the atlas