Atlas / Comparisons / Orbánism vs Thatcherism
Orbánism and Thatcherism
Measured distance across six axes
The same broad family. They agree within three points on CU, SC. No axis separates them by eight points or more.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Fidesz | Thatcherism | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +04 | +09 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +08 | +06 | 2 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +07 | +02 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +06 | +05 | 1 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +07 | +03 | 4 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | −01 | +03 | 4 | 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 · EC +04
Coded mildly market: a flat income tax alongside large family transfers and sectoral taxes on foreign firms.
- Documented act or statuteA fifteen percent flat personal income tax with income tax exemption for mothers of four or more children.
- Documented act or statuteSector-specific taxes applied principally to foreign-owned banking, retail and telecoms.
Thatcherism · EC +09
Deep privatisation and financial deregulation places this near the market pole.
- Documented act or statuteTelecoms, gas, water, electricity, steel and airports were sold between 1984 and 1990.
- Documented act or statuteCouncil housing was sold to tenants at statutory discounts from 1980.
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.
Thatcherism
1979–1990 · Britain
Roll back the state, break union power, sell public assets, restore the authority of law, order and family.
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