ABSTRACT
The considerations presented in this chapter focus on the public governance mechanisms as used in the Visegrád countries (V4). It begins with discussion of the reform stages in the V4, with a special focus on the common and distinct developments which influenced the direction and intensity of reforms. The reform stages thus identified are then related to four basic coordination mechanisms: ideal bureaucracy, new public management (NPM), public governance (PG), and the neo-Weberian state (NWS), respectively. Finally, the limitations of the V4 countries in adopting Western governance models and deeper institutional reasons justifying the existing difficulties in adapting Western solutions are identified. The discussion reveals the presence of a distinctive hybrid governance mechanism in the V4 countries, which exhibits the characteristics of the four models mentioned above, as well as historically rooted local circumstances. These findings lead to the conclusion that the term “hesitant institutional convergence” most accurately characterises both the transformations and the administration model prevailing in the V4 countries. The chapter concludes with a summary of the modes of governance used in the group of countries under discussion.
