Samorząd terytorialny Republiki Węgierskiej

Abstract

The Republic of Hungary belongs to unitary, decentralized countries; the local government plays an important role in the system of exercising authority. A strong position of the local government is guaranteed, among other things, by the Constitution and the provisions of pertinent acts. The tasks assigned to the Hungarian local government entail as well the existence of selfgovernment districts with small areas and numbers of inhabitants which, on the other hand, are entrusted with relatively appreciable rights and prerogatives. Due to the institution of referendum, citizenly initiative and direct suffrage in the elections to district councils and of mayors, it was possible to secure conditions for establishing very efficient local government units which, what is the most important, are able to satisfy the demands of local communities. The first level administrative units in the Republic of Hungary are komitats (Hungarian: megye); nowadays, there are 43 of them. 24 of them are towns with komitat’s rights (megyei jogú város), and 19 – land komitats (megye). The basic level of the local government consists of 2898 communes (Hungarian: község) and of 214 smaller towns (Hungarian: város). A separate local government structure is vested in the capital city of Hungary – Budapest. The capital is divided into 23 districts whose tasks and competence are similar to those of the communes.