Book contents
- Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
- Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: Populists, Democratic Backsliding, and Public Administration
- 2 Incomplete Democratization, System Transformation, and the Civil Service: A Case Study on the Weimar Republic and the Nazi Regime in Germany
- 3 Resilience Without Resistance: Public Administration Under Mutating Populisms in Office in Italy
- 4 Illiberal Transformation of Government Bureaucracy in a Fragile Democracy: The Case of Hungary
- 5 Public Administration in Poland in the Times of Populist Drift
- 6 Technocratic-Populist Mayors and Public Administration in Three European Cities
- 7 Populism and the Deep State: The Attack on Public Service Under Trump
- 8 “Doublespeak Populism” and Public Administration: The Case of Mexico
- 9 Venezuela: Sidelining Public Administration Under a Revolutionary-Populist Regime
- 10 Working, Shirking, and Sabotage in Times of Democratic Backsliding: An Experimental Study in Brazil
- 11 Public Administration: How to Respond to Populism and Democratic Backsliding
- 12 Conclusions: Public Administration Under the Rule of Democratic Backsliders
- References
- Index
4 - Illiberal Transformation of Government Bureaucracy in a Fragile Democracy: The Case of Hungary
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2021
- Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
- Democratic Backsliding and Public Administration
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction: Populists, Democratic Backsliding, and Public Administration
- 2 Incomplete Democratization, System Transformation, and the Civil Service: A Case Study on the Weimar Republic and the Nazi Regime in Germany
- 3 Resilience Without Resistance: Public Administration Under Mutating Populisms in Office in Italy
- 4 Illiberal Transformation of Government Bureaucracy in a Fragile Democracy: The Case of Hungary
- 5 Public Administration in Poland in the Times of Populist Drift
- 6 Technocratic-Populist Mayors and Public Administration in Three European Cities
- 7 Populism and the Deep State: The Attack on Public Service Under Trump
- 8 “Doublespeak Populism” and Public Administration: The Case of Mexico
- 9 Venezuela: Sidelining Public Administration Under a Revolutionary-Populist Regime
- 10 Working, Shirking, and Sabotage in Times of Democratic Backsliding: An Experimental Study in Brazil
- 11 Public Administration: How to Respond to Populism and Democratic Backsliding
- 12 Conclusions: Public Administration Under the Rule of Democratic Backsliders
- References
- Index
Summary
Hungary represents perhaps the strongest example in the EU of what the professional literature has termed, among other things, “democratic backsliding” or “illiberal regression.” The chapter uses the analytical framework of the Introduction to analyze how Hungary’s system of governance has been transformed in the current illiberal (post-2010) era. More specifically, it enquires whether the theoretical expectations regarding the direction and nature of this transformation are corroborated by the Hungarian case. Relying on the empirical material interviews conducted with senior civil servants of the central administration, the chapter endeavors to describe both the formal and informal elements of administrative changes. The findings are rather reassuring in terms of the empirical relevance and descriptive power of the framework proposed in this book. The model offered a meaningful theoretical framework for studying and interpreting illiberal administrative reforms in Hungary. Furthermore, several expectations stemming from the model were corroborated by the empirical data, including increased centralization and patronage, as well as the culture of distrust towards the bureaucracy.
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- Democratic Backsliding and Public AdministrationHow Populists in Government Transform State Bureaucracies, pp. 76 - 99Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021
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