This article considers the relationship between centralised, exogenous institutions and the embedded, endogenous institutions of rural governance in Europe through an examination of the evaluation procedures of the European LEADER programme. LEADER is presented in the literature as progressive in terms of innovation and stakeholder engagement. Yet, while the planning and management of LEADER embraces heterogeneity and participation, programmatic evaluation is centralised and is held at arms length from the delivery organisations. The article reviews previous efforts to improve evaluation in LEADER and considers alternative strategies for evaluation, contrasting LEADER practice with participatory evaluation methodologies in the wider international context. Can evaluation in itself be valuable as a mode of social learn-ing and hence a driver for endogenous development in rural communities in Europe? The article concludes by examining the challenges in producing a hybrid form of evaluation that accommodates both endogenous and exogenous values.
The public administration, in particular to the administrative procedure follows a firm objective: to create of the customer friendly approach. Also, there is more and more emphasis recently on improving the efficiency and speed of the procedure. These are the two most important keywords of the decision planning and documentation. The aim of the research in this scientific paper is to detect and analyse the decision-making methods, concurrently being ready to incorporate them into the national administrative procedure systems. These methods are to provide lawful and effectively applicable alternative dispute settlement methods ready to use in Hungarian legal system and also to assist - apart form the aim to reach the basic aims of the administrative procedure - to create a fundament of the decisions made by the authority, having regard to circumstances in real life cases, viewpoint of customers and other parties, and the balance of the public interest. The scope of the paper also covers the theoretical and practical aspects of general mediation and mediation in administrative procedure, in view with the appearance of the topic within the renewing and current administrative procedural law regime. While examining the mediation in administrative procedure in a novel point of view, this work also analyses the role of this special type of mediation in terms of efficiency and charactesistics of the current and future legal solutions in administartive cases often involving parties with adverse interests. Conclusions and proposions in the paper may provide contribution to the spreading and correct treatment of alternative decision making methods in the administrative procedure. The publication of this scientific paper supported by the ÚNKP-16-1 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities (Hungary).
A tanulmány célja a 2015-ben indult Modern városok program (MVP) iparfejlesztési elképzeléseinek kritikai elemzése a hazánkban kialakult függő piacgazdasági modell és a tartós gyengeségekkel küzdő fejlesztéspolitikai intézményrendszer tükrében. A gazdasági válság utáni Magyarországon a főáramú fejlesztéspolitikák kudarca, az ország gyenge felzárkózási teljesítménye növekvő érdeklődést eredményezett az alternatív gazdaságfejlesztési receptek iránt. Az új teret nyert developmentalista felfogás visszanyúl az erős állami beavatkozás ideájához, ezt azonban paradox módon olyan környezetben teszi, amelyben a gazdaság jelentős hányada külföldi beruházók kezében van, a hazai fejlesztéspolitika eszköz- és intézményrendszere pedig tartós és öröklődő gyengeségekkel küzd. A kormány és a fejlesztésre kijelölt megyei jogú városok külön megállapodásain nyugvó, uniós forrásokat újraelosztó Modern városok program projektszemléletű, vonásaiban a francia és a lengyel tervszerződésekhez hasonló (de azoknál gyengébb és esetlegesebb) fejlesztési eszközként, az új fejlesztési filozófia megtestesítőjeként jelent meg az állami cselekvésben. A program, bár elsősorban városfejlesztési eszköz, jelentős számban tartalmaz újraiparosításra irányuló vagy azt támogató fejlesztési célokat (77 projekt). A program elképzeléseit jelentős regionális különbségek fémjelzik. Az ország nyugati felében inkább a hagyományos fejlesztési eszközök alkalmazása és néhány tudásintenzív tevékenység letelepítésére irányuló törekvés figyelhető meg; a Dél-Alföldön és környezetében az endogén növekedési modell számára is kedvező komplex iparfejlesztési célok kerültek előtérbe; az ország ipari perifériáin azonban egyáltalán nem került sor igazi áttörést sejtető, előremutató fejlesztési célok megfogalmazására. Feltehető, hogy az MVP nyertesei elsősorban a már iparosodott vagy újraiparosodó térségek lesznek; a területi különbségek mérséklődése helyett a különbségek további növekedésére számíthatunk. A critical analysis of the Modern Cities Programme, a development programmelaunched by the Hungarian government in 2015, considers the reindustrialisation components as part of the debate on the varieties of capitalism (in particular the issue of Central and Eastern European dependent market economies) and the persisting institutional deficiencies in the Hungarian planning system. After the 2008 crisis, the low efficiency or failure of mainstream development policies and Hungary's poor convergence record have contributed to a growing interest in alternative development policies. The emerging development-policy vision is returning to the idea of strong state intervention, although paradoxically it continues to operate in an environment characterised by exceptionally high foreign participation in the economy, particularly in its most competitive segments. In addition, domestic development policy struggles with permanent and self-reinforcing institutional weaknesses that significantly reduce its effectiveness. The resulting re-centralisation has not only led to an increase in regional differences, but also to a further weakening of development institutions operating in cities and regions. Effective development systems (development coalitions and early-stage urban regimes) that are capable of setting and achieving coherent, systematic development goals exist only in a few select locations across the country. The Modern Cities Programme, essentially a redistribution of EU funds based on special agreements between the central government and the major Hungarian cities, is a project-based development agenda that somewhat resembles French and Polish planning contracts, albeit in a diluted and less coherent form. As an instrument of development policy, it fits into the new etatist development philosophy. Although the programme is predominantly an instrument of urban development, it also includes 77 projects directly or indirectly related to reindustrialisation. These initiatives focus mainly on improving transport links, developing specific sectors, vocational training, education and a limited R&D+I component. The programme characteristics vary greatly from region to region. In the western half of the country, traditional development instruments predominate with limited evidence of attempts at building up knowledge-intensive activities. In the Southern Great Plain, also complex industrial development goals are found that are conducive to endogenous growth, partly reflecting the lack of FDI in the region and a more SME-based development trajectory. The programme has not been able to realise favourable reindustrialisation initiatives in the peripheral industrial areas of Hungary. The fact that the programme tended to benefit 'winners' is likely to increase existing development gaps rather than reduce existing regional disparities.