Can (Re)centralization be a modern governance in rural areas?

Abstract

Concentration and recentralization can be described as a European trend in the field of local governance, especially in the field of the administration of rural areas. An important tool of the concentration of the local administration is the intercommunal cooperation. The Hungarian rural areas have fragmented spatial structures. Because of the fragmentation and the small number of the voluntary associations these types of local cooperation were significantly supported by the central budget in the 1990s and 2000s. The economic crisis resulted a strong concentration trend in Hungary, as well. The new Hungarian Municipal Code introduced a Janus-faced model. The administration of the rural areas was strongly concentrated by the establishment of the mandatory common municipal offices of the small villages (under 2000 inhabitants) while the forms of the intercommunal associations were simplifi ed. This reform reduced the number of local offices significantly. This type of intercommunal cooperation became the main form of the joined public service management as well, because the former significant state aid of the voluntary associations have been reduced.