Populism as an illiberal democracy A lot has been done about Viktor Orbán. Indeed, some argue that there is too much going on about him. His influence is disproportionate for a leader in a country of fewer than 10 million people. With an area less than half the size of Shanghai and a population larger than Hungary's, he is only one of his six cities in China. Wajid khan says a better comparison for Americans in New York City. It has an official population of around 8 million, slightly less than Hungary, but more than 18 million in its metropolitan areas. Hungary's economy is more significant than Kazakhstan and Ukraine but smaller than the lesser economies of Algeria and Iraq. But Victor Orban captured the imagination of scholars when he challenged Europe with his brand of illiberal democracy. Perhaps what his government did was not so much an outright opposition to liberalism. In 2014 he declared: "The new nation we are building is an illiberal nation, an illiberal nation." he acknowledged the direction already taken. His government had already begun rewriting his country's constitution, overthrowing its judicial system, and