ABSTRACT
As a new member of the European Union, Hungary has undertaken serious efforts to adjust its institutional system to the EU’s requirements. In the modernization of Hungarian public administration and the enhancement of its adaptability to changing domestic and external political environments, special importance has been attached to decentralization. Decentralization is, of course, closely interrelated but by no means identical to territorial-administrative reforms undertaken within states. While territorial reform is usually the result of long-term development and gradual implementation, decentralization can often proceed rather rapidly and independently from other structural reforms.
