{"title":"Empirical Research in the Field of Local Governments of Csongrád County","authors":"Attila Badó","doi":"10.32566/ah.2019.2.1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Following a change of government in 2010, the Hungarian local government system underwent a period of significant transformation. The question of how it is viewed and the effects it may have are currently being debated. However, the fact that 2011 saw a reform of a more than a 20-year-old unyielding system seems difficult to argue with. Laced with the democratic ideal of self-government, the Hungarian regime change of 1989 resulted in a fragmented local government system with a considerable degree of management authority. The system parted with its historic past preceding the socialist council system of 1950. While some post-socialist countries opted for the federal or integrated model of local governance, the Hungarian law on local governance adopted the principle of one municipality, one local authority.2 In the grace period of the ‘democratic euphoria’ that could even be sensed in various other fields3 at the time of the regime change, legislation fully enforcing the notion of local governance could be passed. It revealed legislative self-restraint often much missed nowadays, allowing local powers to grow even to the detriment of central ones. It soon became evident, however, that this low-functioning and fragmented system would not produce a perfect solution. The regulatory model necessarily contained a range of problematic points4 which could have long provided a basis for a fine-tuning of the local government system, if not a reform. However, the proposed transformation lacked political consensus and a twothirds majority needed for amendment. Consequently, the local government system could dwell in peace. Other post-socialist countries, such as the Czech Republic and Poland, had the opportunity to keep fine-tuning their elected models and make any necessary adjustments where needed. The Hungarian","PeriodicalId":117674,"journal":{"name":"Acta Humana","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Acta Humana","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.32566/ah.2019.2.1","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Following a change of government in 2010, the Hungarian local government system underwent a period of significant transformation. The question of how it is viewed and the effects it may have are currently being debated. However, the fact that 2011 saw a reform of a more than a 20-year-old unyielding system seems difficult to argue with. Laced with the democratic ideal of self-government, the Hungarian regime change of 1989 resulted in a fragmented local government system with a considerable degree of management authority. The system parted with its historic past preceding the socialist council system of 1950. While some post-socialist countries opted for the federal or integrated model of local governance, the Hungarian law on local governance adopted the principle of one municipality, one local authority.2 In the grace period of the ‘democratic euphoria’ that could even be sensed in various other fields3 at the time of the regime change, legislation fully enforcing the notion of local governance could be passed. It revealed legislative self-restraint often much missed nowadays, allowing local powers to grow even to the detriment of central ones. It soon became evident, however, that this low-functioning and fragmented system would not produce a perfect solution. The regulatory model necessarily contained a range of problematic points4 which could have long provided a basis for a fine-tuning of the local government system, if not a reform. However, the proposed transformation lacked political consensus and a twothirds majority needed for amendment. Consequently, the local government system could dwell in peace. Other post-socialist countries, such as the Czech Republic and Poland, had the opportunity to keep fine-tuning their elected models and make any necessary adjustments where needed. The Hungarian