This thesis attempts to understand the reasons behind Hungary’s surge in populism in the years following the 2008 financial crisis. In particular it looks at the two major political parties in Hungary, Fidesz and Jobbik, and how they continue to maintain control over the Hungarian government despite the common theory that populist support deteriorates overtime. A key component of Populism is that it usually grows in times of crises. Particularly in Hungary I focus on the many crises that arose during Hungary’s turbulent history of occupation, especially their transition out of Communism. Along with the devastation caused by the 2008 financial crash. Hungary’s inability to completely transition into a full-fledged Democracy as well as the economic devastation they witnessed following 2008 has created an environment where Populism can thrive indefinitely.

This research touches the basics of a clothes-trading process. The process occurs as an outsideparty is being politically absorbed by a mainstream party which aim is to oust the smaller party from the electoral arena. The outside-party would ensure survival by dismiss its policy dimension, thus moving towards an opposite strategic direction away from the incoming mainstream party. The toolkit is taking from the PSO-theory by Bonnie M. Meguid (2008) in order to describe the clothes-trading process by each step as a party strategy. It is a defeat fire with fire type of conflict, with the end not yet discovered, but assumed to be a total exchange between the parties’ issue ownership. So far it is too early to predict the outcome. Further studies have to be made on the future elections in order to elaborate the clothes-trading process more in detail. But the research has set the basics of how and why such a process would occur.

Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to analyze how populist parties argue for state authority in a way that resembles Thomas Hobbes’s arguments in Leviathan. Moreover, the essay analyzes the characteristics of human nature studied by Thomas Hobbes connecting it to the importance of the National State. The parties analyzed are Sweden Democrats from Sweden, VOX from Spain and Jobbik from Hungary. The research questions are: 1)How do populist parties argue for state authority?  2) How do their arguments resemble Thomas Hobbes’s arguments for state authority in Leviathan? The theories used are related to the study of Thomas Hobbes described in Chapter 13 and 29 in Leviathan related to human nature and state of authority. Moreover, Cas Mudde and Hellström’s theories are used related to populist parties on the right. The method used is a qualitative method which includes an argumentative analysis which aims to explain the essay’s purposes. In conclusion, the analyzed populist parties share the ideas of Thomas Hobbes related to the state of authority and the decrease of corporations in the National State. In other words, the populist parties argue that the national state must be unity and solid in order to defend its own interest and citizens’ interests.