Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 25th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview IX. Transition, Change and Uncertainty Author(s) Zoltan Szente Ludovika University of Public Service Budapest Hungary Title The Decline of Local Government in Hungary – Trends and Causes File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Zoltan Szente Abstract This paper analyses the process through the Hungarian local government system has eroded since the change of government in 2010. The author describes the structural problems and the needs which could justified far-reaching reforms of local administration, and examines the responses that have been given to these challenges by the government policy. He argues that while the fragmentation of local governments, the weakness of the intermediate level of self-governments, the negligence of regional discrepancies and some public policy failures were the most pressing problems, the legal and political changes dealt only partially with them, and pursued some other objectives. The administrative reforms implemented since 2010, have been guided by a statist ideology, and have realized a strong centralization. These measures basically followed political aims, and were parts of a general process that was intended to consolidate the power of the central government.
