Government/Non-Profit Partnerships, Public Services Delivery, and Civil Society in the Transitional Nations of Eastern Europe: Lessons from the Hungarian Experience

A. Relevant PDT Hypotheses

Civil Society

• The authors agree with the PDT thesis that civil society is vital to democratic consolidation as civil society provides a social space separate from the public space of the state and economic institutions and from the private sphere of family and friends. Civil society is public space where views are expressed and opinions are formed. NPOs (non-profit organizations) act as a third force to ameliorate and control the forces of both the economy and the state.
• In a departure from the Western civil society experience, in which NPOs are a symptom of the existence of civil society that operate within it, Hungarian NPOs are the essential agents of civil society’s creation. The roots of NPOs’ driving role are found in their communist past when associations acted an as alternative to the state. (771-772)
• A fundamentally anti-state approach was a core component of early attempts at building a civil society. However, this conception has been replaced by a new view that recognizes the necessity of a symbiotic relationship between the state and NPOs in the creation and sustenance of civil society
• The NPO-government relationship is at the core of civil society creation in post-community Hungary. While this relationship may be imperfect, it is clear that the model of building a civil society in opposition to, or the exclusion of, the state is not a possibility. A positive NPO-government relationship is a prerequisite to developing and consolidating a social space (776)
• While true civil society organizations require independence from the state, civil society as a whole requires the state to provide an essential institutional framework. In Hungary, this apparent conflict is resolved through the medium of the NPO sector. However, the NPO sector’s role is through into question as it is drawn increasingly into public service delivery on behalf of the state (776)

B. Article Summary

Civil Society: Developing a Theoretical Background

• The authors begin by comparing “American” and “European” conceptions of civil society.
  • The American reading counter-poses the self-organization and autonomous decisions making within a civil society to the bureaucratization and limitations within a society dominated by the state.  This view emphasizes the role of the rights and duties of the individual citizen
  • The European reading is more influential in Eastern Europe. In this conception civil society is contrasted not just to state power but also to market power. Civil society is the public space or arena in which views are expressed and opinions formed and where NPOs act as a third force to ameliorate and control the forces of both the state and the economy.

The Hungarian Experience:

Defining the Civil Space

• In Hungarian civil society there has been a departure from the Western experience: “Here, NPOs have not been seen as a symptom or mechanism of the existence of civil society but rather as essential agents of its creation. (771)”
• The roots of this concept of civil society do not lie in relation to the current mega-institutions of the state and economy, which are currently themselves in transition, but in relation to the hegemony of these institutions in the past. It was this relationship that gave NPOs their import, as non-state forms of association, and prefigured their role as active agents of creating a civil society.

The Relationship between Civil Society, NPOs, and the State

• Civil society in the early period of transition was characterized by a wholly anti-state attitude which stemmed from a relationship with the state during communism that posed civil society as an alternative to the state, as opposed to as a participatory space and counterbalance to the state.
• Now, however, that anti-state view has been replaced with a perspective that recognizes the necessity of a symbiotic relationship between the state and NPOs in the creation and sustenance of a civil society.
• The NPO sector, although it is a tool for creating civil society, must not be mistaken for civil society itself. NPOs are characterized by their special service-delivery element which is largely an extension of the federal and local government and dependent upon it for its existence.
• A partnership between NPOs and the government towards building civil society should include creating a clearer legislative framework for civil society and a supportive regulatory framework for civil society organizations

Implications for the Future

• Although there may be imperfections in the NPO-government relationship, it is clear that the model of building a civil society in opposition to, or the exclusion of, the state is not a possibility. A positive NPO-government relationship is a prerequisite to developing and consolidating a secure social space
• While true civil society organizations require independence from the state, civil society as a whole requires the state to provide an essential institutional framework. In Hungary, this apparent conflict is resolved through the medium of the NPO sector. However, the NPO sector’s role is through into question as it is drawn increasingly into public service delivery on behalf of the state

The Relationship in Practice: Civil Society, NPOs, and the State in Contemporary Hungary

The Civil Society and Service Delivery Roles of the NPOs Explored Further

• There is a “paradoxical” financial structure in the NPO sector in which two-thirds of the funds go to the service delivery NPOs that make up one-third of the sector. The other two-thirds of NPOs are oriented towards civil society functions and have only one-third the resources.
• NPOs’ civil society functions include mediating between civil society and the state, holding the state and the market accountable to the public, helping citizens participate actively in the decision making process, ensuring some citizen autonomy, promoting cultural diversity, developing local information networks, and educating citizens.
• NPOs can also introduce, shape, and implement public policies. There are three approaches Hungarian NPOs use to participate in the policy process:
  • Solving problems through alternative or innovative service provision
  • Providing government with feedback on its proposals
  • Developing their own policy alternatives and starting a dialogue with political decision makers on this basis
• The service delivery function of NPOs developed as a response to the initial shortages and inequalities in the public welfare system. NPOs were usually created to address a specific demand. Recently, the government has been founding NPOs and has created institutionalized NPOs specifically to take on the provision of public services previously provided by the state.

The Size, Scope, and Financial Structure of the Contemporary NPO Structure in Hungary

• Three major forms of NPOs have developed in Hungary: foundations, membership organizations, and public benefit companies. Membership organizations make up the majority of civil society oriented NPOs, while foundations are highly influential in the delivery of public services.
• Although service delivery oriented NPOs receive much more state support than the civil society oriented NPOs, their government funding is still only around one third of their total income.  This proportion is much lower than in developed countries and government support for NPOs is declining.
• As a result of declining government support NPOs have begun to rely increasingly on earned income. Income generation can come from fees for services or commercial activity not related to the organization’s strategic purpose.

Chaos Avoided or Chaos Reloaded?

Financial instability of emerging NPOs or conflict between the state and the NPO sector would cause chaos throughout the whole civil society sector. To avoid this it is essential to create a participatory space where key actors from all sectors can interact in the development of social policy. Participation in the decision-making process may change the relationships and behavior of the key actor and their attitude towards consensus-building and partnership.