Discussion Papers 1988. No. 6.
Chance of Local Independence in Hungary
CENTRE FOR REGIONAL STUDIES
OF HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
DISCUSSION PAPERS
No. 6
CHANCE OF LOCAL INDEPENDENCE
IN HUNGARY
by
PALNE KOVACS, Ilona
Series editor: HRUBI, Laszlo
P6cs
1988
Discussion Papers 1988. No. 6.
Chance of Local Independence in Hungary
CONTENTS
Introduction
p.1
The Phases of Regional Policy, the Development of Regional Administration
p. 1
Conceptual Criteria of the Assertion of Local Interests
p. 6
The Characteristic Features of the Present Local Power-Political Relations
in the Period of the Reform of Self-Governing on the Basis of Empirical
Research in Communities
p.12
Conclusions
p.18
References
P. 22
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INTRODUCTION
Besides democratization, publicity and pluralism perhaps the most frequently repeated key
term in connection with the reform of the system of Hungarian political institutions is autonomy of
the self-governing type. While declaring the ideal of self-government we often fail to clarify it
conceptually, which would require bringing it into harmony with the principles of our state theory
and constitution in a narrow sense, not to speak of the enormous lack of information concerning
the local social and political conditions of self-governing. Besides clarifying some conceptual
criteria in this paper I am trying to reveal the actual conditions of the democratization and
decentralisation of local administration as explored in my fact-fmding investigations. I think it is a
basic question whether the settlements and local communities have at their disposal the degree of
autonomy necessary for coming closer to the administrative system of the self-governing type. The
question is raised whether under the present conditions a settlement is able to interface with its
political-administrative environment, to remain intact while preserving itself; whether the
relationship of the local level is conceivable on the basis of consensus. It is impossible to answer
these questions by merely analysing the system of councils. A realistic picture of the situation can
be outlined only through the consideration of all the components of the local power relations.
THE PHASES OF REGIONAL POLICY, THE DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL
ADMINISTRATION
After the Liberation the role of the former local governments was gradually pushed into the
background, the First Council Act already based regional administration on the principle of
democratic centralism.
The Council Act created a strict hierarchy between the government, the councils and the
individual council levels in the form of so-called twofold subordination, which implied the co-
existence of horizontal and vertical dependencies.
Besides centralized management, twofold subordination and the survival of deconcentrated
organs the further restricting of the local autonomy was ensured by the strongly centralized division
of functions. In the final account, however, it was an administrative structure which suited the
socio- and economico-political objectives and the regional development conceptions of the period.
Forced industrialization, the over-ambitious objectives of regional development (the formation of
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new towns, the resolution of the employment troubles of the countryside, the supply of all the
villages with radio, telephone and electricity etc.) which were formulated in the first five-year plan
accordingly required a political-administrative mechanism operating as a monolithic unit and
ensuring extremely rigorous implementation. In the Second Council Act of 1954 the weight of the
representative bodies was increased and the subordination of the executive committees to the top
organs of special management (to the ministries) was abolished. The idea of self-government was
still stigmatized as a bourgeois phenomenon and in spite of the organizational separation of
representation and administration the centralized control over management became, in fact, more
direct.
During the consolidation following the incidents of 1956 the disproportionateness of the
regional division of labour, particularly in the wake of the acceleration of the restructuring of
agriculture, came to light more sharply directing the attention to the regional issues.
In parallel to the economico-political strengthening of the regional aspects the role of the
councils was gradually widened in the field of influencing the spatial economic processes and in the
resolution of the tasks connected with state administration in general. The mid-sixties can be
characterized by the restructuring of council management and the transformation of its role in the
development of regions and settlements. The consolidation of the political power, the regional
restructuring of the population and the socialization of agriculture made it possible and also
necessary to accelerate the integration processes of council organization, which, on the one hand,
meant mainly the division of the local councils into districts, on the other hand, powerful
urbanization. The elimination of the representation of the communities, then the division of the
institutional and social spheres into districts, however, cut off the way to the political, institutional
assertion of interests for the local communities.
In 1986 in addition to the significance of its economic contents the economic reform also
gave a decisive push to the decentralization of state life making the strengthening of the system of
councils and the unambiguous assignment of the tasks and powers inevitable.
The introduction of indirect management methods, the change in the character and role of
planning, the problems emerging within the system of councils all motivated the extension of
council autonomy and the shift of the main points of efforts in the division of labour between the
council levels.
The main directions of regional development policy were also identified. The basic socio-
political objective was the regional equalization of the living conditions, a possible way of which was
the formation of the adequate regional employment proportions, the other alternative being the
regional levelling of the infrastructural supply of the population, principally in relation to the
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settlements belonging under the same category. The implementation of the objectives of the
regional development policy was subsidized from separate financial funds as early as 1970.
The 1971 governmental resolution on regional development policy and the conception of the
development of the national network of settlements in combination with the Third Council Act
were the pillars that determined the economic and administrative management framework of
regional policy and resulted in a turning-point in both contents and organizational forms.
The twofold purpose of regional policy is, on the one hand, the efficient utilization of the
resources of the economy and the individual regions, the modernization and rationalization of the
network of settlements and, on the other hand, the mitigation of the diversity in the material and
cultural standards of the populations of the individual regions by simultaneously levelling regional
employment, productivity and settlement supply levels.
The hierarchical system of the centres, however, adumbrated the town-centred allocation of
the settlement development funds. Obviously the socially unjust consequences of settlement
development with its strongly polarized allocation mechanism could be anticipated, moreover they
were intentional. About 2000 small settlements classified under the "other settlements" category,
were practically excluded from the development.
Perhaps the most important amendment to the Third Council Act having come into effect in
1971 was the radically new definition of the state organizational character of the councils according
to which the councils are representative self-governing and state administrative organs. From the
side of organization the increased degree of autonomy, the extension of authority were served by
the abolition of the sub- and super-ordination of the council bodies to one another maintaining the
twofold subordination of the executive committee at the same time. The basic powers of central
administration were assigned to the Council of Ministers. According to the Act the basic economic
tasks of the councils became the development of regions and settlements, the organization of
meeting the needs of the population. To enable the councils to accomplish these tasks the principle
of the autonomous management of their financial means was declared. In contrast with the former
regulation the tasks of the individual council levels were designated in a differentiated way where
the state character of the county councils and the self-governing character of the local councils
became prominent.
In the early eighties the correcting and reforming efforts of the regional and settlement
development policy and those of the administrative policy coincided again. The debate unfolding in
the Hungarian special literature was focused upon the review and modernization of OTK
(development conception of the national network of settlements) and the preparation of the sixth
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five-year plan, while the science of management and the slowly strengthening political science were
revived in the hope of reforming the regional system of administration.
Under the pressure of the demographic indices, the proportions of the shares in the
development funds and the tensions connected with the supply of small villages OTK was modified
as early as 1980. With the abolition of the category of "other settlements" indirect pressure could be
exercised in the interest of the formation of a more proportionate and socially more equitable
distribution structure.
The national proportion of the means expended on the development of infrastructure, the
situation of living standards policy became the subject of heated debates. It was the first time that
the development of settlements was set in a perspective where besides the rational technocratic
considerations the issues of social welfare and democracy were powerfully contoured as well. The
role of the council sphere in the development of settlements, the structure of the resources of the
councils' financial means were closely related to these issues.
The prevailing basic document of the state on the development of settlements broke with
the former way of developing the system of centres according to a rigid hierarchy. In the intensive
and regionally proportionate development of the economy it aimed at giving rise to an increased
reliance on the local endowments, paying particular attention to and promising central support for
narrowing the economic gap between the backward zones and the average regions, for developing
the zones with specific features (small villages, border regions, agglomerational zones etc.). From
the socio-political aspect perhaps the most important target is that urbanization, modern living
conditions should embrace an ever wider range of settlements.
Following the reform of the system of councils having taken effect in 1984 the system of
urban environs became general. A framework was created for the administration and the system of
relations of the settlements which serves the implementation of the long-term objectives of the
two-level regional administration. The reform is an unambiguous response to some of the earlier
contradictions but certain dilemmas have not lost their topicality up to now.
Taking account of the present proportions of the local and county administrative units the
reform strengthened the county in its functions and perspectives, thus at the state level a negative
response was given to the so-called "county debate" re-emerging in the early eighties once again. It
remained an open question how the style of county administration and administrative practice
would be modified parallel to emphasizing the self-governing character of the local councils.
Should the state or "official" character of the county be further strengthened tightening the link
with the governmental sphere to "counterbalance" this? Or consistently following the process of
decentralization will that certain "county interest" appear in the relationships with the government
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and the other counties? The picture of the future provided by the launched reform process is
uncertain in this respect too.
The changes introduced in the management of the councils can be regarded as consistent
with the shift of conception and the modifications having taken place in the development policy
and administrative policy. The greater proportion of the locally formed financial means, the
normative allocation of the redistributive resources, the driving back of the allocating function of
the counties and the somewhat greater flexibility of the management regulations, the loosening of
the relationships with the central budget, the possibility of enterpreneurship and the establishment
of a more direct relationship with the population resources are all promising safeguards of the
realization of council self-government. Nevertheless with regard to the structure and attitude of
management these modifications are rather corrections than reform measures. There are also
possibilities inherent in regulation with the help of which the distribution proportions, the
dependencies in management may be restored. Obviously the further deterioration of the load-
bearing capacity of the economy will not promote the increase of the economic autonomy of the
councils.
Now let us survey what kind of relationship is suggested between the policies of regional
development and administration by the conclusions drawn from a historical retrospection.
The conception of the development of regions and settlements can be deductively concluded
from the needs of the national economy, while that of the regional administration from the
centrally designated state tasks, and the need to match the two always remains secondary. Recalling
0. Bihari's1 thoughts and arguments besides the "element of power" the role of "consensus" is still
missing or is weak in the regional policy. The contents and system of instruments of regional policy
must principally feed on the regional interests and these interests are to be linked to the
governmental decisions by means of consensus, otherwise real harmony is never to be achieved.
Up to this point I have discussed the relationship of the regional policy and the management
system as an issue of economicalness, rationalization or, if you like, efficiency and I also touched
upon its social aspect. In the 70s but mainly in the 80s the attention was directed towards the
regional issues on another plane too which could be called on the whole the manifestation of
ambitions to achieve a more explicit democracy than formerly. By now it has become irrefutably
clear that the dividing lines between the tasks undertaken by the state - society - individual are not
rigid or eternal. Between the state - society and the individual political relationships of a new kind
are required by the new-type division of labour creating new proportions. It is not accidental that
1 BIHARI, 0.1980.
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the shift in the proportions of the bearing of burdens is strongly revealed in the development of
settlements. This phenomenon may be called relying upon the local features and resources or a
more equitable general and proportionate sharing of taxation, nevertheless the main thing is that
the state withdraws itself from the development of the population infrastructure. The changes in
the division of labour and in attitudes ensued without adequately adjusting either the structure or
the principles or the operating methods of our state-political system of administration to the
changed situation.
The positive call for democratization definitely appears at the local-regional level of
administration, too. For the self-governing type functioning of this level, however, it is
indispensable for us to know how the local-regional socio-political medium reacts to
decentralization and democratization. For the elaboration of the mechanisms that serve the
assertion of the local interests the theoretical foundations are missing as well as empirical
experience. In the following chapters of my paper I am trying to make up for the serious lack of
information by setting forth empirical evidence of the institutional functioning of the local
communities and settlements.
CONCEPTUAL CRITERIA OF THE ASSERTION OF LOCAL INTERESTS
With the gradual transformation of the grandiose scale of the system of objectives and
instruments of administration and politics causing upheaval in the macrostructure of the society
and economy into influencing the system of relations with the group interests, the socio-economic
sub-systems and even the individual, the availability of human-centred information about the
communities has gained special importance and has become indispensable by nowadays.
From among the numerous scientifically elaborated consequences of urbanization we know
relatively little on what conditions are created by the disappearance of the closed world of
communities, the regional and functional separation of the different communities for the local
communities. "Do they exist at all?" one may ask.
In my opinion local communities are the communities of people organized on the basis of
territory and neighbourhood which in addition to their social determination are mainly adjusted to
the geographical and ecological conditions, their further conceptual criterion being that they have
the opportunity of separate political participation and assertion of interests, the direct basis of
which is ensured by the uniformity of the demands and expectations from the domicile.
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If we take account of the radical change having taken place in the regional structure of the
Hungarian society keeping in mind the drastic organizational integration processes that affected
the small settlements in particular and we add to this the strongly centralized peculiarities of
administration ensuring political participation for the most part only formally, it becomes obvious
that the local communities lack these criteria nowadays.
In the history of self-government it represented autonomy against the state only from time
to time and it was formulated mainly rather as an issue of the division of labour or later on as the
socialization of the tasks of the state. Whatever independence the local self-governments may have,
however, it does not exclude the supervisory right of the state. Most western bourgeois
constitutions contain safeguards not only in respect of the autonomy of the local governments but
also in that of the maintenance of the unity of the state. Yet the clarification of the sterile legal
concepts of autonomy and self-government has become a problem of minor importance by now.
According to H. Zielinsky 2 the increased socio-political claims laid on the local communities and
settlements require the creation of a complex representative system of interests at the level of the
settlements. The convergence of the individual local sub-systems established at the local level has
taken place, says Zielinsky, without the formation of new rules to play by in this new system of co-
existence co-operation. And these new rules of the game are only partially normative issues.
The idea of self-government as the principle of constructing the state from below towards
the top was a realistic alternative facing the socialist countries. The reasons inducing the majority of
the socialist countries to take over the model of the Soviet Constitution of 1936 were not related to
matters of structure or principle but were rather of practical, topical and political nature.
It needs no particular explanation that in the period of the renewal of the idea of self-
government special attention has been paid to the Yugoslavian model. This is the only
administrative system among the socialist countries where the federative concept of self-
government is consistently realized up to the level of central administration.
In the development of the local-regional administrative mechanism of Hungary - as already
mentioned in the latter chapter - the Third Council Act, which declared the self-governing
character of the councils for the first time, is to be regarded as a milestone.
After 1971 in spite of the "limited" interpretation of self-government exaggerated and
irrealistic expectations were formulated in relation to the councils. Although an increasing number
of the formerly centrally handled tasks was transferred to the competence of the councils, the gap
between the actual freedom of movement of the councils and the demands on them was widening
2 ZIELINSKY, H. 1982.
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more and more. The discrepancy between the de jure and de facto status harmed the prestige of
the councils and started a process of internal "disruption": on the one hand, the relegation of the
councils to the background as compared to the executive organs and on the other hand, the
powerful separation of the formal and informal decision-making spheres.
The dissatisfaction connected with the functioning of the local councils was coupled with the
effort aiming at the decentralization and democratization of the entire system of state and political
administration. In the reform of the system of administration the call for accomplishing the self-
governing character (promised a long time ago) was inevitably manifested not only in the local-
regional administration but also in the institutionalization of the other socio-economic interest
groups.
In fact what do the concepts of self-government and the promised reform actually imply?
1. Reorganization of the division of labour, consistent decentralization which does not
retreat time over and again with the necessary economic guarantees?
2. The decision-making system of the local councils on a wider and more direct democratic
basis?
3. The first cautious step taken in the direction of a "federative" state structure?
4. An element of the possible solution of a more pluralized system of political institutions?
5. Or simply a "puffer zone" 3 in the political seek-and-hide which is taking place under the
circumstances of the decreasing load-bearing willingness of the state and the increasing demands of
society?
The basis of this query is the fact that the fundaments of political science and political
institutions have not changed in the least during the past forty years. The place, role, guiding
method, internal structure of the party have remained unchanged, the stages of evolution in state
administration have been more of corrections than reforms. On the other hand, it became apparent
that without the modification of the basic structure and institutional system and re-interpretation
of the relations of distribution and ownership in particular, the mere declaration of self-
government and the formal democratization of the administrative-political relations of functioning
and procedure provide only symptomatic treatment.
The most important task is to narrow down the scope of democratic centralism and adopt it
mainly in the area of executive administration. The point in question is to decide whether we can
create the possibility of co-operation on the basis of consensus in the relationships of the central
state level and the party guidance with each other on the one hand and with their lower
3 OFFE, C. 1973.
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organizational units on the other hand, whether the elements of partnership can appear besides the
power elements.
In the state organization character of the system of councils the self-governing element
should be given prominence in relation to the scope of authority as well as organization and the
vertical administrative methods should be adjusted to these modifications. The actually established
main points of effort of the internal organizations of the councils do not promote the functioning
of the self-governing type. The still prevailing Third Council Act has not solved the dilemma either,
according to F.Erdei "...the same elected organ - the executive committee of the council -
simultaneously carries out self-governing and acts as the executive organ of the central
government. "4 It would be worthwhile to consider the possibility of forming a representative
structure which is richer in organizational relation. A possibility should be considered where the
locally emerging interest groups can get "pluralized" institutionalization and the reconciliation of
the interests of the units which are relatively independent with regard to organization takes place at
the local level.
In the functioning of the council sphere greater freedom of motion should be ensured
against the vertical administration and also greater dependence on the local community.
Because of the personal subordination of the council officials to the laws of labour the
"identification" of the local leaders with the local society is ambivalent.
With regard to the economic safeguards of the autonomy of the councils and local policy it
is not the independence of management in the absolute sense that should be aimed at but rather
the effort to make redistribution perform as many functions and tie up only as many resources as is
indispensable for meeting the proprietory and economic management functions of the socialist
state and serve as instruments in equalizing the efforts of the regions. The narrowing down of
redistribution is not so much a question of political resolution as a function of the internal
endowments of the economy. Nevertheless, it is a fact that sometimes redistribution is merely a
convenient instrument for centralism to cut up and make indirect the relations formed in
production and consumption between the individual, the group and the goods. The redistributive
organization closely correlated with power is wedged in.
Besides the fact and extent of deprivals - in view of the present subject matter - the structure
of the use of the deprived goods and the decision-making mechanism of distribution are relevant
too. In the distributive mechanism practically there are no local, even county (regional) levels
either, since the local and county councils dispose of revenues, the existence, use and volume of
4 ERDEI , F. 1970. p. 29.
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which (or all these in combination) are rendered possible only by central provisions of law. Thus in
the distributive relations the local-regional councils are not in an ordering but in an executive
position have been institutionalized as ordinary users, consumers. The management of the local-
regional council organs always takes place (within the framework of the allocated resources)
centrally in a direct or indirect way by means of ad hoc or targetor lump-related normative
decisions.
In the final account the practice of redistribution in Hungary (with its proportions and
methods) is a serious obstacle to the formation of local governments because it creates dependence
putting the central distributing apparatuses at the centre of the power movements.
In my opinion the question raised by I. Szelenyi 5 has not been given a scientific answer up to
now. The question is the following: how can the conflict of the industrial and communal
investments be eliminated, how can the efficiency of communal development be ensured, what are
the safeguards of the rational management of the national wealth and of the dynamism of
communal development? Of course, the answer cannot be given within the framework of regional
management, it depends, as has already been mentioned, on the function of redistribution within
the economy. In any case the council-local self-government is also one of the "victims" of the
economic management attitude in which the distribution of incomes operates instead of the market
and not as its complementary whether from the side of economicalness or policy.
Administration is not the only channel of the decisions affecting the local communities but
they have a separate political identity which the decision-making mechanism of the state and the
socio-political institutions reckon with. The council mechanism is inadequate to its medium in
relation to both regions and the socio-economic determination of interests. Regional inconsistence
has been brought about by the extremes of the integration process and also by the fact that the
regional structure of public administration - for reasons easily accounted for - is unable to follow
and actually reflect the "amorphous" social and economic formations coming into being on the
basis of territorial vicinity.
We should not have an aversion to the possibility that certain interests, certain activities
could be organised independently of state administration and expediency supervision. From the
standpoint of etatism it is difficult to accept the non-state organs as partners too. On the other
hand, such a change would have a beneficial influence on the state sphere too since in the course of
the partner-like and non-vertical (non-paternalistic) co-operation with the other organizational-
political sphere the adopted practice of contact and working methods would inevitably change too.
5 SZELENYI, I. 1973.
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From the point of view of the functioning of the system of councils efforts should be made to
benefit from the privilege of organizational complexity, that is from the fact that it consists of units
of diverse character with different functions, to use it for establishing more flexible relationships
with the local society and the system of political and economic institutions. For this purpose the
greater operativity and freedom of mobility of the representative bodies, committees and officials
of the councils should be created.
Among the political conditions of self-governing we should mention the elimination of the
political retardation of the local communities in the last place only for a reason of formality.
According to N. W. Polsby 6 political apathy is more or less a normal condition in the case of a well-
functioning modern democracy. The middle classes can be activized only when they see that their
vital interests are in danger. When it comes to that, legal safeguards are required to ensure the
possibilities of action according to the domicile. The question still remains: if the majority of the
local societies, communities have vital interests in improving the circumstances of the domicile, in
fighting for more favourable positions and proportions then what accounts for their political
indifferentism? At present the social legitimacy of the political and state representative systems of
institutions is not adequate at the local level and, in a contradictory way, passing downwards the
hierarchical levels of the certain types of political-power organizations less and less attention is paid
to them by those affected. It seems proper to say that with the decrease in the scope of activity and
autonomy of a political-state organizational unit the contact with the direct environment is
proportionately being lost, which inevitably results in the antidemocratism of the decisions made
within the narrow scope of motion. This is a vicious circle. The local level of political publicity
should not be thought of as a monolithic unit, from which the conclusion can be drawn again that
its representative-institutional system should be also formed with the consideration of several
factors. The political meaning of self-government includes that the local community - practically
becoming independent of its socially determined internal articulation - should be able to represent
the domicile-related interests in a uniform (impersonal) way outwards. What depends on the
democratism of the internal power relations is "only" the way in which consensus is reached with
regard to the contents of the external representation of interests and the nature of the relationship
between the group interests appearing among the domicile-related so-called "common" interests
and the internal articulation of interests.
6 POLSBY, N. W. 1963.
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Thus we can say that the political acceptance of self-government does not automatically give
way to democratic local power relations, its lack, however, thwarts the creation of democratic local
political publicity.
THE CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE PRESENT LOCAL POWER-POLITICAL
RELATIONS IN THE PERIOD OF THE REFORM OF SELF-GOVERNING ON THE BASIS
OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN COMMUNITIES
Until the early 1980s there were few investigations in Hungary analysing the entirety of the
administrative-coordinative organizational and informal relationships of the settlements. At best
the attention was turned towards the functioning of some organizational types but the settlement
as a whole either from the sociological point of view of the potential communities or from the
administrative-organizational aspect of management have remained a neglected, adversely treated
field of research.
The evidence of the small number of the examinations of complex character, however,
suggested that the analysis of these problems was certainly justifiable. The systems of the
organizational, personal, formal and informal relations show such a muddled picture that they are,
as it were, "black boxes" for the regional and national decision-making.
The main objectives of the research project launched by me in 1982 focus just on this very
question - whether local level of administration is able to actually represent and govern the
settlement, local society within the system of the relationships having been established with the
central (regional) power. Until we get to know precisely the channels, instruments and impact of
this "external" influence, it is impossible to interpret the points of juncture and the power relations
which came into being in the local decision-making mechanism. At the same time I also wanted to
find out what internal formal and informal structure was at the disposal of the organizational
complex of the settlements forming the local administrative level, where the structural points of
gravity and the actual decision-makers could be found, or how the settlement as an organizational
entity behaved towards its governing organizational environment.
I carried out empirical research in three settlements: in Pecsvarad (1982-83), Jalcabszallas
(1985) and Kiskunmajsa (1986). My experience makes it possible to make comparisons and to arrive
at some relative generalizations. At the same time these generalizations serve as working
hypotheses, which still will have to be proved or corrected on a wider empirical base in the future.
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The three settlements of - basically sooner - agrarian character (with a population of 4500 -
2600 - 11,000 respectively) showed different aspects in relation to social stratification,
infrastructural development, economic attraction, organizational structuring, dynamism of
development and administrative status. Nevertheless the official state-political structure bears
similar features in each of them.
It is a general characteristic that the council body can be regarded as the "summit organ" of
the communal policy merely in its formalities. The legitimacy of functioning is ensured by the
ceremonial authority of the council body. Neither the lower council units, nor the non-council
organs and institutions, nor the members of the council expect the council body to undertake a
programme-determining, actual governing role. The subordinated executive committee is
characterized by great operativity as compared to the functioning of the council body. With its
activity preparing the decisions of the council-meeting, with exercising its own and relegated powers
the point of gravity of the power within the council was shifted to the executive committee. This
seemingly internal organizational shift is a very important indicator of the position of the local
council within the settlement and as opposed to vertical administration. As a result of the double
subordination of the executive committee the influence of the county practically ripples over to the
activities of the council bodies owing to the fact that the governing role of the council body is not
asserted towards the executive committee, just on the contrary.
On the basis of the detailed analysis of several years of the administrative activity of the
special agencies it was possible to make conclusions with regard to the components, the gravity
points and character of council activity. It became clear that the local council is mainly prepared to
respond rather than initiate and organize i.e. it has not a "motoric" function. It was also revealed
that in the activities of the local councils there is and unhealthy hypertrophy of the work connected
with the organization of development and supply, while the function of managing and organizing
the local community is performed substantially imperfectly. It is part of the same story that between
the actual decision-making authority of the councils and the claims laid on them by the state (top
level) and the population (low level) the gap becomes apparent which involves the local politics in a
crisis of legitimacy. The positions of the local councils are, therefore, rather weak even in the areas
where they exercise normatively fixed coordinative-supplying functions. At the same time if they
happen to slip through from the sphere of state competence to the communal, self-governing plane,
this mainly political activity already has not any legal bases to rely on. If the social prestige that
could replace it - as will be repeatedly pointed out - is missing then it is mere illusion to regard the
councils as the top of the local power.
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The internal power relations of the council mechanism are characterized by the strong
intertwinement of the different organizational units and eventually they support the virulence of
the activity of the administrative-executive type. From among the triple state organizational
character (self-government, popular representation and state administration) the council is able to
fulfil only the latter function.
Switching over to the other components of the local political mechanism from the situation
of party guidance the following conclusion could be drawn: the party organizations of the small
settlements are not in the position which could be expected on the basis of the macromodel of the
political system. It is an established fact that particularly in the functioning of the party
organization a wider scope of motion was observable in the case of the leading officials than in that
of the public bodies. The powers and decision-making possibilities necessary for influencing are
powerfully becoming independent of the functioning of public bodies. The activity of the party
secretary, for example, does not require the authorization of the public body as a rule. The
mandate given by the party body is undistinctive and the activity of the leaders is not controlled by
the public bodies. With regard to the local-settlement regularities of the place and operating
methods of the party guidance I took care not to make generalizations. It can be accounted for by
the fact that the regulation of the instruments, methods, limits and structure of party guidance is
missing even in respect of the constitutional relation to the state. To all probability this is why the
role of the party organizations is strongly differentiated, contingency may have a greater role
according to the personal and local peculiarities. (The Patriotic People's Front in Hungary - the
widest social mass movement with its alignment, character, methods of functioning and
independent organizational impact can be regarded as an informational channel, an accelerator for
the decisions of communal policy which is the medium and participant of the political processes
without an actual deciding role.)
The importance of the other social organs and organizations from the point of view of
communal policies could hardly be registered during the investigations. In spite of the fact that the
representative organs are not able to reflect the local articulation of interests, there is no real
possibility for the organization of the interests of groups with peculiar political contents. The
process taking place in Hungary in our days, the mushrooming of societies, unions representing
interests and social organizations holds out promises of the pluralization of the local political
relations as well. What is still characteristic today - due to the central character of the reform - is
that the national agencies and organizations take the initiative and make decisions about
foundation; the differentiation and restructuring of the formerly politically uniform and poor
mechanism is shaped from the higher quarters downwards.
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In contrast with the half-hearted political role of the social-political organizations the
predominance of the political weight of the economic units became evident during my
investigations. Paradoxically, our state-political administrative system practically does not take
account of the peculiar interests of the economic organizations, their representation is relegated to
the informal sphere.
In the three above mentioned settlements the relationships between the system of political
and economic institutions were formed according to three types.
In Pdcsvarad in accordance with the sporadic and ineffective economic structure the
representation of the economic organizations is formally solved by means of the public activities
and board memberships of the leaders, at the same time the role of the economic sphere is not
emphatic with regard to the political decisions.
In Kiskunmajsa in spite of the fragmented economic structure there is a dominant
production branch and a dominant economic unit which does not endeavour to integrate its role in
the settlement policies with the official structures. The interrelationship of the political and
economic spheres is unbalanced and loaded with conflicts, at the same time the benefits of the
economic prosperity can be pointed out in the settlement. Speaking figuratively, there are two
functioning power centres in the settlement each demarcating its sphere of influence in different
circles and at different levels.
With regard to the relation between these two organizational spheres the political structure
of JakabszAllas is homogeneous perfectly integrated formally as well as informally and - in contrast
with Kiskunmajsa - the dominance of the economic interests is asserted without conflicts.
Thus the economic sphere is a prominent element of the power processes of the
communities and its influence gets through just owing to the lack of institutionalization on a
regulated basis. Thinking about the representative forms of the economic interests we must not
forget that the sphere of interests in question is one which shows a differentiated picture in
conditions, behaviour and influence, and this fact makes it impossible to offer a uniform model for
all the settlements. From the point of view of self-government, however, there is no doubt that the
lack of the conditions of the relationships of the transactive type deprives settlement autonomy of
its base.
It is another matter that the reciprocality of relationships, partnership is conceivable
between the local state-political administration and the economy only if they dispose of similar
competences and means in the development of the settlements. The present desperate budgetary
constraints imposed on the councils, the lack of the material and ownership conditions of
entrepreneurship are rather unpromising with regard to the harmonical settling of the relationship.
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The consideration of the population as a political factor and a general public in the
investigation warned against the groundlessness of self-government from the point of view of
sociology and social psychology. In lack of the institutions of local publicity the population relies on
a very low and fluctuating informational basis not only with regard to its value judgements but it
also has poor factual knowledge about the local events and personalities.
The information obtained about the public behaviour of the population shows that for the
time being the connections of the local political leaders do not mean solid support for the
democratic exercising of the increased local autonomy. The dominant political attitude is
indifferent, even hostile from time to time. In spite of the undoubted role of political culture or its
lack the reason for this is mainly the lack of institutions of direct democracy and the local
informational system. It is no use keeping silent about the fact that the majority of people are well
aware of the fact that the future of their domiciles is not decided locally.
After analysing the functioning of the different organizational spheres and the unorganized
society it was eventually easy to determine the circle of the local elite. In the course of the analysis I
adopted the mature western methods (decision-making, positional and regulation techniques etc.)
of communal research. At the same time it has to be taken into account that the models elaborated
in the western bourgeois political science cannot be adopted mainly on account of the fact that they
are the result of a real power formula where the local community, the settlement has relative
autonomy against the extra-settlement levels of power and where the individual organizational and
personal participants of the power can also function in the possession of relative autonomy. That is
the national and local levels of administration are closely interrelated with respect to the extent of
centralization. In Hungary the majority of the organs functioning in the settlements do not have
such a degree of organizational autonomy and do not dispose of rights and means in the possession
of which they could make autonomous decisions in an intact way or could be participants of the
local common decisions. Eventually "politicizing" in the three settlements does not represent local
power, it is rather a matter of "jockeying for position" and adaption where the horizontal relations
of the local organs to each other is of secondary importance in many respects.
In the decision left within the range of local competence or rather in the choice of the
strategies of adjusment the individual organizational types can assert their interest in proportion to
the extent of authonomy granted by the top elements of their own vertical chains. Thus it becomes
understandable why the power weight of the economic organizations can be asserted and why the
council cannot govern the local decision-making processes. The relationship of the different
organizations can be characterized by permanent and generalizable peculiarities with difficulties. In
the structure of the official administration of settlements only a narrow band is functioning. This
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narrow band of actual influence does not include either all the elements of the official political
structures or the entirety of the organizational types. It was mainly the leaders or the more active
core of the public bodies that determined the functioning of the organizations. Another important
characteristic is that the elite participating in the local political processes comes from the
objectively (positional) technocratic professional stratum with a greater possibility to intervene in
the decision-making processes due to the fact that the management, executive elements of the local
political-administrative system are virulent. The actual power and par excellence state-political
structures do not coincide. The most significant shift is represented, on the one hand, by the
political predominance of the economic organizations and the relative weakness of the council
sphere, on the other hand, its third characteristic feature is the elitist character, the lack of social
publicity. The power structure which is mostly integrated around one or maybe two poles is
outlined at best on the basis of its relation to the other local organs. The organ or person that can
get an advantage over the others is the one which has the greatest chance to obtain and maintain
the support of the superior level of administration. There are, however, hardly any relations and
decisions for the establishment and regulation of which the local information, the local decision-
making competence and the local system of guarantees of execution would be sufficient.
The conglomerate of the local organizational, political and social systems of relationships is
not able to cooperate for a long time. The lack of cohesion can be accounted for just by the
stronger assertion of the diverse but basically close vertical sectorial management of the individual
spheres as opposed to the regional-local influence.
The local power system divided by the dependency in administration seems to be objectively
unable to hold together. The locality - following the inevitable disintegration already referred to -
was replaced by a territorially cut up, sporadic, over-administered but at the same time incoherent
structure. The multi-directional commitments of the inhabitants, the alienation of the
administrative centres, the impersonalization of the decisions, the centralization of the distributive
relation became a major obstacle to the formation of a unifying local power. At the same time
these very phenomena with their consequences show the need for the re-establishment of localities.
In a curious way the role of localities comes into the lime-light more and more frequently both
from the aspect of economic efficiency and socio-political renewal, democratization or from the
point of view of the evolution of the individual. In the relation with the constructed and natural
environments and the small communities considerable troubles may be caused by the wrong
undervaluation of the role of the domicile. I do not state that the centralization of the political-
administrative relations has an exclusive role in the disintegration of localities, since it could at best
support and accelerate the economic and social concentration processes.
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The external downwards determination of the local system of relationships is much stronger
than the level which could be justified by the central social and economico-political objectives. The
dependency of the local organs to such a degree, in particular that of the local council and party
organs hinders the marked representation and assertion of interests at the level of the settlements
and the transformation of the settlements into communities. It does not mean to say that local
decisions are not made or the local organs do not influence the local living conditions at all, that
there are not decision-making centres having some power over the local society. This power,
however, is merely executive power and in my investigations I could not find traces of power of self-
governing character. The primary scientific task, therefore, is to elaborate the criteria of the local-
settlements autonomy in relation to central management.
In this respect the elucidation of the constitutional, organizational, normative, economic and
sociological conditions is necessary.
The local decision-making mechanisms are not still open and democratic. In my opinion the
main reason for this is that the specific interests of the settlements and local societies that are
emphatically linked to the locality do not get a primary form of assertion in the management-
political system. Their occasional appearance in some places is due to the latent functions or the
misfunctioning of the organizations.
CONCLUSIONS
The creation of the economic, social and political-institutional conditions of the local-
settlement autonomy is an underutilized resource is which is of decisive importance from the point
of view of the democratization of the administration of society as well as from that of economic
efficiency and the rationalization of administration and management. The self-governing-type
functioning of the settlements is limited by structural factors. There is no doubt that the
consequence of urbanization is mainly the disintegration of the closed forms of locality. At the
same time the administrative relations of centralizing character, the redistributive allocation system
eliminate the commitments which might connect the society, economy and institutions of the
domicile by conforming to the environmental, sociological and ethnic etc. peculiarities of the
"place".
At the moment the different sub-systems of the settlement are functioning so to say
independently of each other. The different spheres of activity (administration, production, supply)
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are operated by their own - extra-settlement - vertical organizational chains. On the basis of my
empirical research the intra-settlement relations are characterized by the following.
1. The officials in charge of settlement policy, the local council and party organs do not
dispose of sufficient autonomy either in governing the infra-settlement interest relations or in
particular in the external representation of the settlements. The possibility of the influence of the
councils is limited by the excessive central influence on the local living conditions, the lack of the
material background of the competences ensured in the organization of supply, the management of
institutions and developments and by the county administration directly influencing the exercising
of their own competences. In the conflicts with the governing county council and its organs the
local council does not dispose of the means of asserting the interests which can function in a formal
and efficient way. In the "ideology" of our administration system local interests are inferior as a
matter of course. The role of the party organ at the local (settlement) level depends on the level of
organizational development and on the scope of the ensured political authority of the local leaders.
Their influence is, however, far below the extent possessed by the top management levels of the
part Y.
2. The organizational range affecting the decisions of settlement policy is usually wider than
that of the s u i g e n e r i s political-state governing organs. The role of the economic
organizations is over-emphasized in settlement policy, although it is differentiated according to the
production structure of the given settlement and the economic potentials of the individual
production organs.
3. The local power decisions are made in the circle of a narrow elite. The possibility of this is
due to the strong formality of the functioning of the local representative and corporate
organizational units. The composition of the public bodies is not able to reflect the local structures
of interests, it is more the delegation practice of the local organs than the representation of the
interests of the local society that can be accomplished by it. The discussed items on the agenda, the
decisions made show that only the formal legitimacy required for the functioning of the officials
and the executive organizational units is ensured.
The loss of importance of representation is promoted by the peculiarities of council
administration strengthening the role of the executive organs formally as well.
The activity of the party officials is only slightly controlled by the members and the public
bodies.
For the decisions of the elite representing chiefly organizational interests the forums of
formal and informal bargaining ensure ground. In the organizationally less articulated smaller
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settlements the everyday personal relations play a greater role and accordingly the role of the
council and party executive committees is even less here.
4. The public behaviour of the local society is characterized by political indifferentism. There
are no forums for local publicity, the greatest part of local society has neither urge nor political
culture nor local information necessary for influencing the local political processes. The activity of
the population in development - in villages - is mostly based on necessity. The autonomous
community movements headed by the local intellectuals are based on special interests other than
those of the local politics. The social organs can mobilize as a rule only a small part of the local
society from time to time.
The local society or settlement with diverted interests and practically autocratic governing
will be able to function as self-government only by means of radical changes concerning attitude
and structure. The primary condition is the predominance of the method of consensus as against
the method of power, the system of hierarchical dependencies have to be replaced and
complemented by horizontal partnership. In the re-regulation of the administrative relations the
political identity of the entirety of settlements has to be ensured, the institutional central and
county representation of the local interests has to be established.
In the distribution relations the level of settlement management should be treated
separately where the harmonization of the interests of the production, infrastructure and the
population could be accomplished. The autonomy of settlement management should be limited by
the central distribution only in certain groups of settlements or in the interest of certain
development objectives from time to time.
I think we should not be afraid of political particularism or economic-financial autonomy of
the local interest endangering the assertion of regional, sectorial or even national economic
interests. In the relationship of the local and national (regional) interests the permanent ousting of
the local interest can result only in illusory harmony and this is what really endangers the assertion
of the national interest.
The issue of self-government may not be narrowed down to the reform of the system of
councils or simply to the formation of a new-type division of labour between levels of state
administration or to creating balance of centralization and decentralization. This group of
problems requires a new approach in the system of the relations of the state and society. The
relegation of the etatic administrative methods to the background, the extension of the social
institutions of direct citizen participation, the formation of the regulations of cooperation between
these two spheres make it possible to realize the democratic functioning of self-governments.
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Although I am entitled to make up only a raw model of relative applicability on the basis of
my research experience, nevertheless I would like to outline the future organizational model of the
assertion of local interests below:
- The vertical linkage should be mainly determined first of all by a clear - from time to time
determined again - objective of division of labour and not by the subordination relations dictated
by self-interests of centralization. Consistent decentralization means that the freedom of motion of
all locally functioning organizations is similarly increased. That is to say without the
decentralization of the party or the institutional sphere the widening council autonomy or the
upswing of societies cannot find local partners and the locality cannot evolve again into an integral
or organic whole.
- A more articulated, less standardized regional management structure is necessary the
elements of which are able to get into contact with each other flexibly in the horizontal respect and
to raise the missing resources by means of business ventures and functional associations.
- The internal structure should consist of several relatively autonomous units giving a chance
of the appearance of all interest dimensions and harmonizing them according to the power
relations. In this structure the Static elements should not predominate.
- The power functioning of each organization takes place under social control.
In conclusion I can think of local administration of the self-governing type as a complex
political and only secondly state organizational mechanism which is divided according to local
specialities and where autonomy is ensured by the unambiguous division of labour between the
centre and the local level, equal chances are provided for the assertion of the heterogeneous local
interests and it functions within democratic forms of procedure. L. H. Nix 7 formulated all this as
follows, "An adaptable village is not the one where perfect harmony and concord prevail but the
one where the different groups reconcile their mutual dependency in an organized way, in a system
compromising and eliminating conflicts."
7 NIX, L. H. 1974. p. 326.
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ZIELINSKY, H. (1982): Politik and Verwaltung in Kommunen. Die Verwaltung. 2. pp. 145-164.
Discussion Papers 1988. No. 6.
Chance of Local Independence in Hungary
The Discussion Papers series of the Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of
Sciences was launched in 1986 to publish summaries of research findings on regional and urban
development.
The series has 3 or 4 issues a year. It will be of interest to geographers, economists, sociologists,
experts of law and political sciences, historians and everybody else who is, in one way or another,
engaged in the research of spatial aspects of socio-economic development and planning.
The series is published by the Centre for Regional Studies.
Individual copies are available on request at the Centre.
Postal address:
MTA Regionalis Kutatasok
Centre for Regional Studies of Hungarian
Kozpontja
Academy of Sciences
H-7601 PECS
P.O. Box 199
Pf.199
7601 PECS
HUNGARY
Phone: (72) 12 755
Telex: 12 475
Director general: Gyorgy ENYEDI
Editor: Laszlo HRUBI
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s
Forthcoming in the Discussion Papers series:
Development Possibilities of Backward Areas in Hungary
by
Laszlo FARAGO and Laszlo HRUBI
Discussion Papers 1988. No. 6.
Chance of Local Independence in Hungary
Papers published in the Discussion Papers series
No. 1 OROSZ, Eva (1986): Critical Issues in the Development of Hungarian Public Health with
Special Regard to Spatial Differences
No. 2 ENYEDI, Gy6rgy - ZENTAI, Viola (1986): Environmental Policy in Hungary
No. 3 HAJDU, Zoltan (1987): Administrative Division and Administrative Geography in
Hungary
No. 4 SIKOS T., Tamas (1987): Investigations of Social Infrastructure in Rural Settlements of
Borsod County
No. 5 HORVATH, Gyula (1987): Development of the Regional Management of the Economy in
East-Central Europe
Discussion Papers 1988. No. 6.
Chance of Local Independence in Hungary
ISSN 0238-2008
Kiadja a Magyar Tudomanyos iskademia Regionalis Kutatasok Kozpontja
Feld& kiado: Enyedi Gyorgy akademikus, friigazgat6
Sorozatszerkeszt6: Hrubi Laiszle
Kesztilt: TEMPORG Nyomda, Pecs — 938/89
Feld& vezetd: Dr. Kauai Sandor