Studying recentralisation in countries experiencing an illiberal turn – from a new framework to comparative lessons drawing
Abstract
The article presents a conceptual framework for the analysis of recentralisation in countries experiencing an illiberal turn. It highlights the relevance of a ‘battle over ideas’ for creating ideational power and achieving discursive hegemony by the national government, which allows to impose recentralisation to weaken local governments as political opponents. It also shows how the multiplicity of recentralisation measures can be methodologically sorted into specific types and how these types target different dimensions of local autonomy. On this basis, the article presents comparative findings and lessons on recentralisation narratives and practices in Hungary, Poland, and Turkey (presented in this themed section).
Fields of Study & Subjects
Political Systems and Governance
Local Government Finance and Decentralization
Populism
Right-Wing Movements
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Urban Research & Practice
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 435–453
- Publication date
- 17 February 2026
- Language
- EN