http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/e97ee1576a11980a https://verfassungsblog.de/rewiring-democracy-after-orban/ Rewiring Democracy After Orbán - How Participation Can Counter Informal Power After Orbán Zgut-Przybylska, Edit eng 2026-06-16 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Democratic Restoration Governance Hungarian Transition Ungarn civil society participation Ungarn Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 Hungary’s democratic renewal cannot succeed through constitutional restoration alone. The durability of the Orbán regime stemmed not only from formal institutional capture, but from deeply embedded informal power throughout society. Rebuilding democracy therefore needs more than legal repair: it requires institutionalized participation, decentralized power, and directly embedded civil society into governance. Thus, transitional justice cannot be reduced to constitutional restoration or elite replacement. It must also address the underlying social logic of authoritarian governance.