Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Gabor Scheiring

Kettering Foundation @kettering.org · 5d

Our #DemocracyAroundTheGlobe team is in Athens this week sponsoring and attending the 2025 Athens Democracy Forum!

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · 20d

Same in Hungary: fifteen years in power, and Orbán still finds ways to perform victimhood again & again.
More on the Kimmel story: edition.cnn.com/2025/09/17/m... 8/8

ABC yanks Jimmy Kimmel’s show ‘indefinitely’ after threat from Trump’s FCC chair | CNN Business

Disney’s ABC is taking Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show off the air indefinitely amid a controversy over his recent comments about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.

edition.cnn.com

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · 20d

Fourth: discursively, it’s fascinating how the world’s most powerful man still manages to speak as a victim.
Trump said ABC showed “courage” in canceling Kimmel—casting liberalism, the “deep state,” or PC culture as the real oppressor. 7/8

1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · 20d

Third: the FCC angle. Using regulatory power to push outlets toward self-censorship is a classic Orbán tactic. Carr’s talk of enforcing the “public interest” recalls Hungary’s sovereignty bill, where “national interest” justified silencing critics. 6/8

1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · 20d

Hungary doesn’t have the layered media landscape of the U.S., but aligning local broadcasters & print media with the government has been central to Orbán’s strategy. Loyalty is not just ideological—it’s profitable. 5/8

1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · 20d

Such attacks demonstratively raise the cost of speaking up and speaking out.
Second: the role of local media owners is also familiar. Orbán’s crew systematically went after outlets—buying them up or forcing them into compliance. 4/8

1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · 20d

Trump promised to go after Kimmel right after celebrating Colbert’s cancellation, and Kirk’s assassination gave him a political opening. But this is just a fig leaf—personally targeted campaigns are the lifeblood of Orbán’s regime too. 3/8

1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · 20d

Still, the story is eerily familiar to anyone who has followed Orbán’s politics.
First: it’s a nationally orchestrated campaign to hunt down media figures who challenge Trump. No authoritarian leader likes being the butt of the joke. 2/8

1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · 20d

This is such a small world. I’ve just spent a day in Hungary discussing #illiberalism and woke up to this Jimmy #Kimmel story. Trump & co. don’t need direct lessons from Hungary—some of their moves are already beyond #Orbán in radicalism. 1/8

1 1 1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Sep 8

I look forward to joining this illustrious panel at the Budapest Forum on the causes of the #populist surge, kicked off by a keynote from Ivan Krastev, one of Europe’s foremost experts on #democracy.

September 17, 13:45-15:00, Budapest, Nádor street 15.

Program: budapestforum.org/understandin...

1 3

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Aug 30

Work with us at Georgetown Qatar! We have 3 active open-rank searches across a broad range of topics and regional specializations in international & comparative politics.
Ambitious and engaged students from around the world, 2-2 teaching load, generous research support.
👉 apply.interfolio.com/172432

1 1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Aug 24

A superb analysis @jacobinmag.bsky.social on why the Democrats are so weak against Trump:

"Their weakness is the result of a decades-long hollowing out of the party, in which organized labor has been displaced by a panoply of interest groups and nonprofit organizations." jacobin.com/2025/08/demo...

How the Democratic Party Was Hollowed Out

Democrats appear incapable of mounting a real opposition to Donald Trump. Their weakness is the result of a decades-long hollowing out of the party, in which organized labor has been displaced by a pa...

jacobin.com

6

Reposted by Gabor Scheiring

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · Aug 20

Poverty obstructs economic recovery.

16m Britons live in poverty
800,000 suffer from nutritional deficiencies.
1-in-200 households experiencing homelessness
1-in-4 young people have mental health conditions.
Scurvy/Rickets are back.
£39bn GDP a year lost due to poverty.

Must redistribute.

Our state has become a guarantor of corporate profits

Equitable distribution of income and wealth would go a long way towards stimulating domestic demand and investment...

leftfootforward.org

9 120 240

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Aug 20

I had a great conversation with Kai Schnier on his Un-American podcast about the causes and consequences of illiberalism and what Orbán’s Hungary can teach us about Trump’s second term.

You can listen to the episode here: lnkd.in/dipXeevK

#populism #democracy #Trump #Orban #illiberalism #polisky

1

Reposted by Gabor Scheiring

Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · Aug 16

"These are the proverbial adults in the room. They had the power to create friction for fascism. They have instead created a glide-path."

They're Powerful Enough to Resist, But Are Caving to Trump

When fascism reared its head in America, much of civil society chose to debase itself and accommodate it, rather than fight back.

www.rollingstone.com

11 210 780

Reposted by Gabor Scheiring

healthpolicy.stanford.edu @healthpolicy.stanford.edu · Jul 31

In this TIME magazine piece about the potential consequences of famine in #Gaza, SHP's Ruth Gibson notes effects of starvation can persist long after people regain access to food.

“What we can’t see is the generational and intergenerational impacts."

The Medical Consequences of Starvation

The effects can persist long after people regain access to food, experts say.

time.com

2 4

Reposted by Gabor Scheiring

Brian Stelter @brianstelter.bsky.social · Jul 25

So here's what @gscheiring.bsky.social told me. "Most of Orban's tactical weapons to take over the media resemble the moves that led to Colbert's cancellation," he said:

1 17 37

Reposted by Gabor Scheiring

Brian Stelter @brianstelter.bsky.social · Jul 25

The Paramount-Skydance saga "reeks of Orbanism."

That's the assessment of @gscheiring.bsky.social, who experienced Viktor Orbán's autocratic power plays in Hungary firsthand as a member of the Hungarian parliament. 🧵

26 220 710

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Jul 25

Thanks for sharing, and glad you liked it!

1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thank you!

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Jul 24

It was an honor and a pleasure to discuss #authoritarian threats to #democracy with Steve Levitsky at the @kettering.org Democracy Conference this Monday in D.C. I'm grateful to the Kettering Foundation for making this global conversation possible. International #solidarity is the only way to go.

1 1 8

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Jul 17

Thank you!

1

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Jul 17

Glad to share my latest piece on the autocratic threat and why a lasting solution requires rethinking what democracy is. Democracy thrives when it includes. Out now on the Kettering Foundation blog, Resilience & Resistance.

#Democracy #populism #illiberalism #polisky

kettering.org/why-democrac...

4 7

Reposted by Gabor Scheiring

Philip Rathgeb @philiprathgeb.bsky.social · Jul 15

Glad to share a symposium on my book "How the Radical Right Has Changed Capitalism and Welfare" with SER: academic.oup.com/ser/advance-....

Featuring @alexandreafonso.bsky.social, @vapunkt.bsky.social, @ankehassel.bsky.social, @danielk24.bsky.social, @gscheiring.bsky.social, & rejoinder by myself 👇

1 10 29

Gabor Scheiring @gscheiring.bsky.social · Jul 13

When the #ultra-rich and #corporations have huge sway in government decisions and are able to operate without accountability, #democracy deteriorates. In this power punch essay, @kettering.org Democracy Fellow Koketso Moeti explores the implications for South Africa.
👉 kettering.org/the-age-of-t...

1 3