Does Centralization Serve Efficiency ? De-Agencification in Hungary

Abstract For a long time, Hungary has been known for its quick and promising development of stable democratic institutions that made it a reference country in the CEE region during the1990s and the early 2000s. However, a series of economic crises threw light on the efficiency defects of the operations of the Hungarian public administration emerging in the late 2000s. Thus a new series of structural and operational reforms was launched recently, inspired by the current stern economic times. These reform steps can be briefly characterized by the labels of concentration and centralization affecting the entire corpus of administration. In practical terms, Hungary makes an attempt to adapt to the current economic conditions via increasing efficiency and via more effective coordination while trying to conserve the achievements of the transition period. The article briefly introduces the major changes so far and offers a rationale to understand the motives of the reform. The article examines these questions based on empirical data and research