New Report Examines ‘How Democracy Can Be Reclaimed’

What do the return of democratic rule in Hungary and Poland, a constructive approach to populism, and weakened economies stand to teach us about the current state of politics?

At a time when the rise of anti-democratic and ethnonationalist movements create real concern across both sides of the Atlantic and threaten longstanding and stable democracies, both Hungary and Poland, serve as case studies for how democracies can be reclaimed.

In their new report, “How Democracy Can Be Reclaimed: Lessons from Elections Worldwide,” Arnaz Mahbub, Rachel Pineo, John Austin, and Ben Speggen note:

In April 2026, former Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán stepped down from parliament after a landslide defeat in which the public rallied to throw off his kleptocratic and economically debilitating rule in favor of the pro-Europe, pro-democracy Péter Magyar and his Tisza Party. Magyar’s big win dramatically demonstrated that even after years of election rigging and purposeful destruction of democratic institutions and norms – democracy can be reclaimed. Three years prior in 2023, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s victory pried the control of Parliament out of the grip of the national-populist Law and Justice Party, allowing the Polish people to begin rebuilding a democracy that had been similarly dismembered.

The report draws from a June 2026 Heartlands Transformation Network transatlantic virtual discussion, which featured:

• Bulcsú Hunyadi, a leading Hungarian political analyst and Head of Programmes at Political Capital;

• Robin Johnson of Monmouth College in Illinois, U.S., who has written about how Democrats win elections in rural, and working-class districts in the American Heartland that now typically vote Republican;

• Maria Skóra, Policy Fellow at Das Progressive Zentrum in Germany and author of work on democratic renewal in Poland and Hungary;

• Rob Ford, political analyst at the University of Manchester, who studies Reform UK and the populist radical right in Britain.

As detailed in the report, the panelists established key factors and features that cut across political dynamics in Hungary and Poland the U.K. and U.S. Those themes – from the importance of ‘good populism’ to recognizing the impact that failing economies to the importance of resident engagement and political action to follow campaigning – provide lessons to threatened and stable democracies alike worldwide.

The report further notes that while democracies can be reclaimed at the ballot box, rebuilding democratic systems does not end there. As the report’s authors write:

… elections are only the beginning and do not singularly guarantee the future fortifying and strengthening of democracies. The road to democratic backsliding and erosion is not short and quick; but neither is the road to rebuilding democracy. Engaging with citizens – listening to their concerns and proposing real, tangible ways to address them, and then taking action to deliver results – matters. Pro-democratic leaders can do much to reclaim democracy, but they needn’t wait until their democracy is lost.

What lessons do Hungary and Poland teach us? How can democratic leaders strengthen their systems to prevent from losing them?

To read the full report:

Click Here to Read the Full Report

To watch the Heartlands Transformation Network panel discussion: