A nation must think before it acts.
Scholars and journalists have tirelessly covered the rise of populist nationalism in Europe, and especially the hardline governments in Hungary and Poland. With a few hours and a lot of googling, one can learn much about how both countries’ governments have commandeered public media, cracked down on privately owned TV stations and newspapers, weakened constitutional courts, attacked immigrants, promoted hate speech against Jews, Muslims, and other minority groups, and unleashed online trolls. But one would still be unable to answer the fundamental question: Why are these governments so popular?