K. Fabian et Jd. Straussman, POSTCOMMUNIST TRANSITION OF LOCAL-GOVERNMENT IN HUNGARY - MANAGING EMERGENCY SOCIAL AID, Public administration and development, 14(3), 1994, pp. 271-280
Tensions are embedded in post-communist transitions. Public policies e
xhibit the disharmony between two different and often competing object
ives: (1) developing a fully operational market economy within a democ
ratic context and (2) maintaining social protections in the form of a
wide array of social benefits. One challenge for post-communist regime
s is the management of this tradeoff. This challenge is observed throu
gh an analysis of the administration of emergency social aid in Hungar
y. The analysis shows that post-communist transitions, as exemplified
by the efforts to build local government capacity in Hungary, experien
ce problems of sequencing. In particular, equity decisions are difficu
lt to manage not only because they have their roots in socialist ideol
ogy and the policies of the former regime, but also because the increa
sing number of vulnerable populations makes welfare considerations a p
olitically sensitive task now more than ever before. Meanwhile, the in
stitutional processes needed to manage tensions are fluid and immature
. Ultimately the success of the post-communist transition in Hungary (
and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe) will be measured by the a
bility to build institutions that can manage and consolidate political
pressures.