Exploring the grey zone: The theory and reality of hybrid regimes in postcommunistic countries

Abstract

The new multiple-configuration of the international relations and especially the break-down of the non-democratic regimes of the Soviet-type created the need for scholars to address new classifications of emerging regimes. The contribution of the presented text to the debate on hybrid regimes is twofold. The authors strive to wholesomely introduce the debate, genealogy and intellectual background of this line of research, exploring if it is possible to employ the concept of hybrid regimes to define the character of selected cases and simultaneously, if it is possible to change the paradigm of classification of studied regimes in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. In this text, the authors understand various conceptualizations of hybrid regimes as a unit on a different level on the ladder of abstraction. Therefore the authors emphasize the theoretical employment of hybrid regimes as a meta-concept, analysing the recent development in Hungary.