In both Hungary and Israel, it was too easy for simple majorities to change the rules of democracy. In Hungary, only two-thirds of a single parliamentary chamber are required to rewrite the constitution, and first-past-the-post electoral rules allowed Orbán’s Fidesz party to capture two-thirds of parliament despite winning just 53 percent of the vote. Israel has no written constitution, so many democratic rules can be changed by a simple parliamentary majority. That’s too low a barrier.
