Feminist protests in times of democratic backsliding: a comparative analysis of Hungary and Poland

Why are feminist protests more widespread in some countries experiencing democratic backsliding than in others? This article explores this question using the most-similar-systems design, examining two Central European countries that experienced democratic backsliding but demonstrated different degrees of women’s mobilization. Feminist protests were limited in Hungary but widespread in Poland in response to illiberal changes and an antifeminist backlash. Adding to political process theory, this article argues that feminist issue salience, derived from context-specific and attitudinal characteristics, helps to understand the scope of protests over domestic violence and obstetric violence in Hungary and reproductive rights in Poland. This article also demonstrates that in Hungary, the government’s concessions reduced issue salience and led to demobilization, while in Poland, prior activism and the government’s regressive actions heightened issue salience, fuelled further protests and ultimately drove political change, offering new insights into the dynamics of de-democratization and re-democratization.