This article was originally published in The Chicago Tribune, here.

On Thursday, Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, is scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference, “the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world,” according to CPAC’s website. While commentators have explored the link between Orbán’s anti-democratic tendencies and those of the modern GOP, the connection between the two runs much deeper than most know: Both owe their power to an electoral system that overrepresents their supporters.

When Orbán came to power, he and his Fidesz party made three key changes that helped consolidate authoritarian power — changes that mimic key features of the U.S. electoral system.

Read the full article in The Chicago Tribune.