As my dependent variable, democratic decline, is quite broad there are several different axes on which to define it. These axes include the independence of institutions and the rule of law, freedom of the press, and the existence of fair and competitive elections. To find qualitative sources on these aspects of my dependent variable, I have been searching for news articles that document these issues in Hungary, the country that I have selected as my case study. One qualitative data source that focuses on the freedom of the press axis is a 2014 news article written by a Hungarian journalist and published by the BBC on the efforts of the Hungarian government to constrain press freedom. The article discusses the methods utilized by the government to influence news coverage such as rewarding state advertising to companies with friendly coverage and ensuring that unfriendly broadcasters run into problems when it comes to renewing their broadcast licenses.[1] Another article, this one by The Economist Intelligence Unit, documents the effects of a then-proposed tax on advertising revenue written is such a way to drive the German-owned media company RTL Klub, one of the few that still airs critical coverage of the government, out of business.[2] These actions, especially the intervention of the supposedly independent media regulator to deny broadcast licenses to critics, also indicate a lack of institutional independence and respect for the rule of law in Hungary. Other actions, such as a crackdown on NGOs opposed to the government’s agenda by Hungary’s auditing agency[3] and how the government body designed to regulate monopolies has turned a blind eye to the consolidation of most media outlets in the hands of government allies also do not speak well of respect for the rule of law or the existence of a free press.[4]
From the articles and issues discussed in the above paragraph, it is quite clear to me that democratic decline is quite prevalent in Hungary. The above paragraph also indicates that I would operationally define democratic decline by breaking down important aspects of democracy such as freedom of the press and respect for the rule of law into smaller components and then asking questions such as “have there been any new legal restrictions imposed on the press?” or “does the government regularly label the press as an ‘enemy?’” to assess if decline occurred in the level of these elements within a state. I would also rate the degree of the decline on the simple scale of small, moderate, or high depending on how many of these questions were answered in the affirmative.
[1] “Hungary’s Media Battle ‘Economic Pressure, Intimidation,’” BBC Monitoring Media, July 8, 2014, accessed November 8, 2017, http://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=BBCMM00020140708ea780005l&cat=a&ep=ASE.
[2] “Hungary Economy: Media Tax Revives Worries over Tax Policy, Press Freedom,” Economist Intelligence Unit – ViewsWire, June 18, 2014, ViewsWire edition.
[3] “Hungary’s Media Battle ‘Economic Pressure, Intimidation.’”
[4] Pablo Gorondi, “US Worried about Dwindling Independent Media in Hungary,” The Canadian Press, October 17, 2017, accessed November 8, 2017, http://global.factiva.com/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&an=CPR0000020171017edah007hn&cat=a&ep=ASE.
Excellent job Noah! You’re off to a good start in thinking about the different dimensions to your DV and the ways in which you can capture those dimensions in their full richness/depth.