Reclaiming liberalism means rethinking how we engage with voters, redefining liberty, and using modern tools like social media to reach people where they are. It’s not only about doing the exact opposite of what the populist movement is doing but taking a lesson from their playbook and applying it to ours.
By Zoltán Kész, Government Affairs Manager at Consumer Choice Centre, former Member of the Hungarian Parliament
Let’s be honest, the populists have been brilliant at hijacking the idea of liberty. They’ve taken an abstract term and turned it into something people can understand. While liberals were busy drafting policies behind closed doors, populists went straight to the heart of the matter: What makes people free? They took the idea of personal liberty—freedom of choice—and turned it into something easy to digest: “You have the right to choose what happens in your country, your life, and your future. You decide who enters your borders, who you live with, and what laws govern your daily life.”
Populists have turned liberty into a brand. A catchy slogan that hits people where it hurts, especially when their anxieties about identity, migration, and government interference are running high. And the worst part? It’s working. While populists are taking the emotional spotlight, liberals are still tangled up in abstract definitions of liberty and idealistic values that don’t speak to the average person. Moreover, it has failed to adapt to the challenges of the modern era. Liberals are left more disconnected from the people than ever before.
Populist parties have not only mastered the art of creating narratives and talking to the people, but they have also mastered the power of social media. In the digital age, when everything is conforming and changing, they have been able to ride the wave of change. Meanwhile, the liberal movement? It’s still trying to figure out how to regulate the algorithms. Social media is the battleground of modern politics, and right now, populists are winning. The fact of the matter is that populists now understand how to go viral, and they are harnessing its power; they are giving the people a narrative that just feels right to them.
But liberalism is not dead. It is merely at a crossroads where its future depends on its ability to reconnect with the electorate. This reconnection requires a profound shift in how the ideals of liberty are communicated, packaged, and practised. A new logo and hashtags won’t do the trick this time around. We need to re-envision what liberalism means in today’s world and reintroduce its values to the people in a way that resonates with their everyday lives. So, where do we begin?
Recently, looking down upon voters for disagreeing with the mainstream liberal ideas has become a tendency, labelling anyone in the opposition as ignorant, uneducated, or foolish. This alienates the voters and heavily contributes to the rise of the populist movement. First, we need to start listening to the voters, their choices must be acknowledged and recognized as rational. It is important to stop thinking of voters as irrational decision-makers; it is essential to identify that the voters know what bothers them and make decisions based on rationality.
Next, liberals must break free from their echo chambers. It’s not enough to simply react to populist rhetoric and just respond with the exact opposite. While this approach might please their existing base, it will fail to win new voters and may even alienate undecided or wavering voters, as it comes across as merely reactive. In politics, the initiative lies with those who set the agenda, allowing them to dominate public discourse. Liberals must dare to initiate debates with their opponents and create genuine dialogue and engage with people beyond their own circle, focusing on winning trust, not just arguments.
One of the most important steps that liberals must take is to properly master the art of the digital world and take social media seriously, engage with voters online, and shape the narrative—not just fact-check the fake news. Going hand in hand with the digital world is the art of crafting compelling messages and relatable narratives.
To fight the aggressive disinformation, liberals must start addressing it head-on. Instead of just countering the lies, liberals must create counter-narratives compelling enough to connect with the people’s experiences and show how liberal values improve their lives. When it comes to propaganda, we must keep in mind that the real enemies are not the voters who vote for the far right but the troll farms, criminal hackers, and states that direct them.
Finally, liberals must make liberty personal again. The idea of liberty shouldn’t just be abstract idea; it should demonstrate how the people benefit from liberty – how their life can be better when they are free to make decisions about which school their children go to, what car they drive or who they want to live with.
Reclaiming liberalism means rethinking how we engage with voters, redefining liberty, and using modern tools like social media to reach people where they are. It’s not only about doing the exact opposite of what the populist movement is doing but taking a lesson from their playbook and applying it to ours. It’s time to stop talking past voters and start listening to their concerns, offering real solutions, and showing that liberalism can truly make a difference.
Read the full paper by Zoltán Kész on the liberal narratives here:
Zoltán Kész is a former member of the Hungarian Parliament. Before he entered politics, he co-founded the Hungarian Free Market Foundation. In 2015, he ran in a by-election as an independent and defeated the Fidesz candidate, thus depriving Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of his supermajority for the next three years. After his years in Parliament, he worked for think tanks as a political consultant. He is now the Government Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Centre.