Pro Publico Bono – Public Administration

The impact of decentralization on the further training of public servants in Hungary

2022-05-03T12:48:03+02:00

In the public administration under government, from 2019,
the obligations of further training and promotion examinations for public servants became a discretionary option based on decision of executives. The subject of the study is to assess the impact of decentralised system
deregulating further trainings and shifting general obligations to optional decisions. Based on the statistics for the period of 2019–2021, we examine the extent to which the volume of training and examinations fulfilled in previous years has changed due to the consideration of the heads of units in determining the annual training and examination requirements for civil servants. The analysis shows that despite the decentralisation, public bodies request even more trainings than the previous (compulsory) level of trainings. The reason for this is that the quality improvement of central-provided training since 2012 has reached a level where employers require further training without any legal obligation (motivation-based further training). In conclusion, on the one hand, obligation-based further training has become a motivation-based further training system, and the learning of civil servants is increasingly based on workplace incentives and self-motivation. All of this also improves the effectiveness of individual development, as more motivated learning is
more effective than obligation-based learning. Through this best practice of the largest Hungarian adult education system, the study can also provide a basis for more general conclusions about the ex-post impact assessment and analysis methodology of the decentralisation of centralised decision-making systems.

The Growing Role of Digital Literacy

2022-03-31T15:13:12+02:00

Today, the role of digital literacy is increasingly valued as a prerequisite for, among other things, accessing (and delivering) services in the digital ecosystem and for digital economic competitiveness. It is no coincidence that policy makers are placing increasing strategic emphasis on its development. However, it matters what tools are used, because even the best-intentioned solutions can have the opposite effect. This study examines the need for digital literacy development in the current context, its economic, social, EU and national strategic context, and then takes stock of recent (and most useful) attempts at national and EU interventions. Then considers the barriers to possible interventions and proposes intervention points and methods, drawing attention to the likely impacts of implementation and non-implementation.

About Bureaucracy – Again

2021-08-26T13:02:25+02:00

Today the professional discourse on bureaucratic structures and processes is not closed. The phenomenon of bureaucracy is part of our lives. As Max Weber wrote, society can be known through its bureaucracy. Therefore, one of the most important task of the social sciences is to
research and explore this function. The sociologist Péter D. Forgács after profound research published his German-language monography in 2016 (Hungarian translation: 2019), in which he reinterpreted the concept that Weber, Merton, Crozier, etc. had previously developed, based on the experiences of the 21st century. This paper aims to present the theories of Forgács. The topics of this paper are the differences between public and private sector employees, the relationship between politics and the civil service, corruption, the capacity for reform, the responsibility and phenomena of the civil service and Forgács’ bureaucratic culture circles, i.e. the different bureaucratic cultures of different geographical areas are also discussed.

Respect for Administrative Procedural Time Limits and the Requirement to Complete Cases within a Reasonable Time

2022-03-31T15:09:44+02:00

Article XXIV of the Fundamental Law of Hungary, which guarantees the fundamental right of fair administration, explicitly mentions the requirement to complete cases within a reasonable time. The study seeks to answer the question of the enforcement mechanism of the reasonable time requirement. On the one hand, the study reviews the current and former rules of administrative procedural law on the legal consequences of exceeding time limits. On the other hand, it examines the assessment of the exceeding of procedural time limits on the basis of the practice of the
Constitutional Court and administrative courts. After a review of the case law, the study points to the conclusions that can be drawn from it. In sanction-application (administrative fine) cases, if the authority exceeds the statutory time limit, this does not necessarily mean that the requirement of a reasonable time limit under the Fundamental Law is violated, but compliance with the
statutory time limits and the calculation of time limits does not automatically mean that the requirement of “reasonableness” in the Fundamental Law is not violated either.

Opportunities for Improving Public Safety in Small Villages

2022-02-14T18:52:39+01:00

The 11% of Hungary’s settlements are cities and towns, the remaining 89% are villages with less than 5,000 inhabitants. The Act CLXXXIX of 2011 on Local Governments in Hungary (Mötv.) mentions the contribution to the public safety of settlements among the tasks of local governments. The fulfilment of this duty is rather mixed nationwide, with most municipalities failing to meet the obligations set by the legislator. The authors’ aim is to provide the reader with a clear picture of the relevant circumstances relating to public safety and security in small settlements. In addition, through the use of good practices applied in the competitive sector to create and maintain security, the authors also outline possible solutions for municipal leaders and law enforcement officers in small municipalities to identify and effectively reduce the risks related to local public security, and also to increase the security awareness and sense of subjective security of the population.

Reorganisation of Municipal Property in the Light of Education Reform

2022-03-31T13:39:30+02:00

In Hungary, the ownership and maintenance of public education institutions have undergone significant changes on several occasions over the past ten years, which have basically meant centralisation processes. The permanent reform of public administration is essential for the development of the modern state. The various crises that affect us today (economically, medically) and the development of technology are forcing the state to make reforms again and again. Their effects increase or decrease the role of the state, depending on the external circumstances, and on the form in which the various
resources are available (for example market-sphere or private sphere resources). The maintaining of educational tasks has also changed several times, and the changes were often generated by economic and international influences in addition to educational and professional issues. The need to manage municipal debt by 2010
has become strongly dominant in the centralisation of education. Breaking away from the regulatory models developed earlier, a completely transformed regulatory environment has emerged.

Development Policy Aspects of Administrative Performance Measurement: Linking “Large Systems” and Project-level “Subsystems”

2022-05-06T15:00:09+02:00

Nowadays the complex social, economic, geopolitical, technological and organisational changes make an urgent need to link the strategic and operational dimension in public administration. The hypothesis of the paper implies that the interactive relationship between the national-level situation indicators and the project-based development outputs can be achieved by establishing a complex measurement system that can both support the measurement of the effective implementation of development, and identify and support its socio-economic impacts. The hypothesis is validated by drawing on the findings of the relevant national and international literature on methodological developments and measurement, as well as by relying on the experiences of methodology development and performance measurement activities carried out within the framework of the Hungarian Public Administration and Public Service Development Operational Programme 2014–2020. This leads to some conclusions and recommendations on performance measurement perspectives for the period 2021–2027.

Péter Halmai: European Economic Integration

2022-01-04T11:55:28+01:00

Péter Halmai’s book European Economic Integration was published in 2020 by Ludovika University Press, (formerly Dialóg Campus) the publisher of NUPS. The goal of the book is very ambitious and comprehensive. The main topic of the volume is the subject of European integration, which has existed for nearly 70 years, focusing on its original, economic aspect and drawing on recent international theories and critiques. The book should not be seen as an extension of the existing literature of the topic, but as a well-prepared work analysing the topic of European economic integration, which is why this review focuses on the book’s most contemporary findings.