The Rise of the Partisan State? Parties, Patronage and the Ministerial Bureaucracy in Hungary

It is problematic to classify the relationship between political parties and the state in post-communist Hungary as a case of low or no party patronage and state politicization. A study of the ministerial bureaucracy reveals that the passing of public administration reforms has not provided an effective constraint against politicization, and that the politicization of the ministerial bureaucracy has increased over time in terms of extent, intensity and scope. Comparison of four post-communist governments in Hungary permits one to relate the politicization of the ministerial bureaucracy to the desire of governing parties to enhance their political control over the formulation and implementation of public policies under conditions of polarized political competition between former communists and their political allies, on the one side, and anti-communist parties, on the other.