Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 20th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Public Policy Analysis Development Issues Author(s) Gyorgy Gajduschek Corvinus University of Budapest Budapest Hungary Title Towards a theory of „Legalistic government” File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Gyorgy Gajduschek Abstract The paper aims at identifying the specific role of Law in administrative system of Hungary that could be relevant for some other Central and East European (CEE) countries. Law plays a crucial role in most Continental systems. This fact is largely misinterpreted or simply neglected by the mainstream Anglo-Saxon literature. Hungary and most countries in the CEE region follow the German-Weberian model in this regard, in which law still is in the center of theory and practice of public administration. However, our legalistic administrative system differs from existing German (or French) model also – thus seemingly not interpretable for West-European theorists either. In brief, no conceptual framework exist that could capture the specificity of the administrative systems of the region. Most countries follow a century-old, or perhaps never existed ideal. Furthermore, emphasizing the adaptation of a (say German) model conceals couleur locale; the fact that Laws play a greatly different role in CEE countries. For instance, Law as a legal text (black letter law) is crucial, a quasi sacred phenomenon, however, it is much less important as an instrument for regulating individual behavior and for shaping social reality. Laws are somehow considered as self-fulfilling prophecies so that no efforts has to be made to implement them. Laws are central tenets in social and political communication but largely neglected in actions. Seemingly Laws play a specific (perhaps: less instrumental and more symbolic) role in administration – and presumably in society of CEE countries. The paper is the author’s first attempt to capture and conceptualize this phenomenon. The Conference could provide a good opportunity to generate discussion on the issue, which may assist further elaboration of the concept of “legalistic public administration”.
