The aim of the paper is to highlight the main characteristics of the recent Hungarian public administration reform, as well as to reveal the inconsistent nature of some of its elements and to describe the connected risks. The starting point of the article is the Magyary Zoltán public administration development programme. The reform steps are compared to the ideal type NPM approach. The Hungarian public administration reform can be characterized by strong centralization and the revitalization of Hungarian anti-liberal traditions at macro level, and by the support of the enhancement of market rules and management at micro level.
Alonso, J. M. - Clifton, J. - Díaz-Fuentes, D. (2011): Did New Public Management matter? An Empirical Analysis of the Outsourcing and Decentralization Effects on Public Sector Size. COCOPS Working Paper 4.
Arellano-Gault, D. (2010): Economic-NPM and the Need to Bring Justice and Equity Back to the Debate on Public Organizations. Administration & Society 42, No. 5: 591–612.
Aucoin, A. (2012): New Political Governance in Westminster Systems: Impartial Public Administration and Management Performance at Risk. Governance 25, No. 2: 177–199.
Bach, S. - Bordogna, L. (2011): Varieties of New Public Management or Alternative Models? The Reform of Public Service Employment Relations in Industrialized Democracies. International Journal of Human Resource Management 22, No. 11: 2281–2294.
Bao, G. - Wang, X. - Larsen, G. L. - Morgan, D. F. (2013): Beyond New Public Governance: A Value-Based Global Framework for Performance Management, Governance, and Leadership. Administration & Society 45, No. 4: 443–467.
Barzelay, M. (2001): The New Public Management. Improving Research and Policy Dialogue. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Borins, S. (2002): New Public Management, North American Style. In: McLaughlin, K. - Osborne, S. P. - Ferlie, E. (eds): New Public Management: Current Trends and Future Prospects. New York, NY: Routledge, 181–194.
Boston, J. (2011): Basic NPM Ideas and Their Development. In: Christensen, T. - Lægreid, P. (eds): The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 17–32.
Box, R. C. - Marshall, G. S. - Reed, B. J. - Reed, C. M. (2001): New Public Management and Substantive Democracy. Public Administration Review 61, No. 5: 608–619.
Christensen, T. - Lægreid, P. (2002): New Public Management: Puzzles of Democracy and the Influence of Citizens. The Journal of Political Philosophy 10, No. 3: 267–295.
Christensen, T. - Lægreid, P (eds) (2011): The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Manage ment. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Fesler, J. W. (1968): Centralization and Decentralization. In: Sills, D. L. (ed.): International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York, NY: Macmillan, Vol. 2, 370–379.
G. Fodor G. - Kern T. (2009): A rendszerváltás válsága. [The crisis of the regime change.]. Budapest: Századvég Kiadó.
Greve, C. - Hodge, G. (2011): A Transformative Perspective on Public-private Partnerships. In: Christensen, T. - Lægreid, P. (eds): The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 265–280.
Grüning, G. (2001): Origin and Theoretical Basis of New Public Management. International Public Management Journal 4, No. 1: 1–25.
Hajnal G. (2011): Adminisztratív politika a 2000-es évtizedben. Az ügynökség-típusú államigazgatási szervek strukturális dinamikája 2002 és 2009 között. [Administrative Politics in the Decade of 2000. The Structural Dynamics of the Organs of Public Administration of Agency Type between 2002 and 2009.]. Politikatudományi Szemle 20, No. 3: 54–74.
Hajnal, G. (2013): Public Sector Reform in Hungary: Views and Experiences from Senior Executives. Country Report as Part of the COCOPS Research Project.
Hajnal, G. - Rosta, M. (2014): The Illiberal State on the Local Level. The Doctrinal Foundations of Subnational Governance Reforms in Hungary (2010–2014). Working Papers in Political Science 2014/1.
Haynes, P. (2011): The Return of New Public Management? Working Paper SSRN.
Hood, C. (1991): A Public Management for All Seasons? Public Administration 69, No. 1: 3–19.
Hood, C. (2007): Public Service Management by Numbers: Why Does It Vary? Where Has It Come from? What Are the Gaps and the Puzzles? Public Money - Management 27, No. 2: 95–102.
Hutchcroft, P. D. (2001): Centralization and Decentralization in Administration and Politics: Assessing Territorial Dimensions of Authority and Power. Governance 14, No. 1: 23–53.
Jun, J. S. (2009): The Limits of Post-New Public Management and beyond. Public Administration Review 69, No. 1: 161–165.
Kertész K. (2012): Hogyan mérjük a pártok centralizáltságának fokát? [How to measure the degree of Parties’ centralisation?]. XXI. század Tudományos Közlemények 28.
Kornai, J. (2012): Centralization and the Capitalist Market Economy in Hungary. CESifo Forum 13, No. 4: 47–59.
Kovács, Pálné, I. (2011): Local Governance in Hungary - the Balance of the Last 20 Years (Discussion Papers 2011/83). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Körösényi, A. (2005): Political Representation in Leader Democracy. Government and Opposition 40, No. 3: 358–378.
Kuhlmann, S. (2010): New Public Management for the ‘Classical Continental European Administration’: Modernization at the Local Level in Germany, France and Italy. Public Administration 88, No. 4: 1116–1130.
Lapsley, I. (2009): New Public Management: The Cruellest Invention of the Human Spirit? Abacus 45, No. 1: 1–21.
Lapsley, I. (2010): New Public Management in the Global Financial Crisis - Dead, Alive, or Born Again? Working Paper Presented at IRSPM Conference. Berne, Switzerland, 6–9 April.
Lengyel, G. - Ilonszki, G. (2012): Simulated Democracy and Pseudo-transformational Leadership in Hungary. Historical Social Research 37, No. 1: 1–20.
Manning, N. (2001): The Legacy of the New Public Management in Developing Countries. International Review of Administrative Sciences 67, No. 2: 297–312.
Manning, N. - Shepherd, G. - Blum J. - Laudares, H. (2008): Public Management Reform: Should Latin America Learn from the OECD? OECD.
McLaughlin, K. - Osborne, S. P. - Ferlie, E. (eds) (2002): New Public Management: Current Trends and Future Prospects. New York, NY: Routledge.
Ministry of Public Administration and Justice [MPAJ] (2011): Magyary Zoltán Közigazgatás-fejlesztési Program (MP. 11.0). A Haza üdvére és a Köz szolgálatában. [Magyary Zoltán Public administration development Programme (MP. 11.0) For the salvation of the nation and in the service of the public]. Budapest. http://magyaryprogram.kormany.hu/admin/download/8/34/40000/Magyary-Kozigazgatas-fejlesztesi-Program.pdf, accessed 27 March 2015.
Ministry of Public Administration and Justice [MPAJ] (2012): Magyary Zoltán Public administration development Programme (MP 12.0). For the salvation of the nation and in the service of the public. Budapest. http://magyaryprogram.kormany.hu/admin/download/a/15/50000/Magyary_kozig_fejlesztesi_program_2012_A4_eng_%283%29.pdf, accessed 27 March 2015.
Moynihan,D. P. (2006): Ambiguity in Policy Lessons: The Agencification Experience. Public Administration 84, No. 4: 1029–1050.
OECD (1995): Governance in Transition. Public Management Reforms in OECD Countries. Paris: OECD.
Ongaro, E. (2009): Public Management Reform and Modernization. Trajectories of Administrative Change in Italy, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Osborne, D. - Gaebler, T. (1992). Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit Is Transforming the Public Sector. Reading, MA: Addison-Welsey.
Pakulski, J. - Higley, J. (2008): Towards Leader Democracy? In: ’t Hart, P. - Uhr, J. (eds): Public Leadership: Perspectives and Practices. Canberra: ANU E Press, 45–56.
Pallesen, T. (2011): Privatization. In: Christensen, T. - Lægreid, P. (eds): The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 251–264.
Peters, B. G. (2011): Governance Responses to the Fiscal Crisis - Comparative Perspectives. Public Money & Management 31, No. 1: 75–80.
Peters, B. G. - Pierre, J. - Randma-Liiv, T. (2011): Global Financial Crisis, Public Administration and Governance: Do New Problems Require New Solutions? Public Organization Review 11, No. 1: 13–27.
Pogány, I. (2013): The Crisis of Democracy in East Central Europe: The ‘New Constitutionalism’ in Hungary. European Public Law 19, No. 2: 341–367.
Pollitt, C. (1995): Justification by Works or by Faith: Evaluating the New Public Management. Evaluation 1, No. 2: 133–154.
Pollitt, C. (2002): Clarifying Convergence. Striking Similarities and Durable Differences in Public Management Reform. Public Management Review 4, No. 1: 471–492.
Pollitt, C. (2005): Performance Management in Practice: A Comparative Study of Executive Agencies. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16, No. 1: 25–44.
Pollitt, C. (2007): Convergence or Divergence: What Has Been Happening in Europe? In: Pollitt, C. - van Thiel, S. - Homburg, V. (eds): New Public Management in Europe. Adaptation andalternatives. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 10–25.
Pollitt, C. - Summa, H. (1997): Trajectories of Reform: Public Management Change in Four Countries. Public Money - Management 17, No. 1: 7–18.
Pollitt, C. - van Thiel, S. - Homburg, V. (eds) (2007): New Public Management in Europe. Adaptation and Alternatives. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Pollitt, C. - Bouckaert, G. (2011): Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis. New Public Management, Governance and the Neo-Weberian State. Oxford, UK: Oxford UniversityPress.
Ripp, Z. (2010): Egy szürke eminenciás színeváltozásai [The transfiguration of an éminence grise]. Mozgó Világ 36.
Schedler, K. - Proeller, I. (2002): The New Public Management. A Perspective from Mainland Europe. In: McLaughlin, K. - Osborne, S. P. - Ferlie, E. (eds): New Public Management: CurrentTrends and Future Prospects. New York, NY: Routledge, 163–180.
Schedler, K. - Proeller, I. (eds) (2007): Cultural Aspects of Public Management Reform. Oxford: Emerald Insight.
Siltala, J. (2013): New Public Management: The Evidence-based Worst Practice? Administration & Society 45, No. 4: 468–493.
’t Hart, P., Rosenthal, U. - Kouzmin, A. (1993): Crisis Decision Making: The Centralization Thesis Revisited. Administration & Society 25, No. 1: 12–45.
Torres, L. (2004): Trajectories in Public Administration Reforms in European Continental Countries. Australian Journal of Public Administration 63, No. 3: 99–112.
Toubeau, S. - Wagner, M. (2013): Explaining Party Positions on Decentralization. British Journal of Political Science 45, No. 1: 97–119.
Van de Walle, S. - Hammerschmid, G. (2011): Coordinating for Cohesion in the Public Sector of the Future. COCOPS Working Paper 1.
Walker, R. M. - Brewer, G. A. - Boyne, G. A. - Avellaneda, C. N. (2011): Market Orientation and Public Service Performance: New Public Management Gone Mad? Public AdministrationReview 71, No. 5: 707–717.
Zavattaro, S. M. (2013): Management Movements and Phases of the Image: Potential for Closing the Loop. Administration & Society 45, No. 1: 97–118.