„Law is (not) politics!”

It is a commonplace in political science that the rise of the political power that calls itself “illiberal”, which is in a hegemonic position today in Hungary, can be traced back to a numerous factors. This paper analyses one of these causes, one that has been little explored so far: the liberal legal discourse that prevailed until 2010. In this paper, I provide a brief ideological and historical overview of the emergence of the hegemony of the liberal legal discourse from the late 19th century onwards, and its practical consequences between 1990 and 2010. My conclusion is that the liberal conception of law contributed to the emergence of the belief that neutral legal institutions, relying solely on the law, can defend citizens’ rights and the democratic rule of law against any political attack. The democrats who believed in this myth failed to take into account the sociological (primarily personal) circumstances that influence legal decision-making, and illiberal forces were able to capitalize on their naïvety.