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 




Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
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 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.

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 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.

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 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.

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 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.

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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.

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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.

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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.

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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.

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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
10 
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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
11 
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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
12 
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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
13 
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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
14 
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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
15 
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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
16 
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 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
17 
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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
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Discussion Papers, No. 6.
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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) 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
19 
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 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1988. 26 p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 6.
20 
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. 

Pálné Kovács, Ilona: Chance of Local Independence in Hungary. 
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Discussion Papers, No. 6.
21 
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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22 
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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 



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