Neither episodic, nor destined to failure? The endurance of Hungarian populism after 2010

How can populists potentially extend their time in power? Departing from the notion that populism is a thin-centered ideology, the article argues that as long as populists manage to continuously (a) reconstruct the elite and the people, (b) reinforce the antagonistic relationship between the corrupt elite and the pure people, and (c) remodel popular sovereignty, it is likely that they can lengthen the life expectancy of their regime. Analyzing the case of Hungary starting in 2010, the article demonstrates that Prime Minister, Viktor Orban was successful with respect to this three-course approach. He managed to reconstruct the elite from representatives of the past to a homo sorosensus, and widened the scope of the people from we, Hungarians to we, the sovereign nations. Similarly, Orban renewed the conflict between the ever changing elite and the people, turning from economic-driven to identity politics. Finally, Orban reinvented a toolkit of new, innovative measures that reflected a preference for greater popular sovereignty. The article builds on an analysis of Orban's selected speeches and corresponding political and legal measures initiated by the regime that formed an integrative part of the three-course approach in Hungary.