Acta juris Hungarici, 1932 (1. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)

1932 / 3-4. szám - Autonomous municipal administration in Hungary. (A magyar önkormányzati közigazgatás.)

212 in self-government every citizenü bears within nini the consciousness of national service as a member of the State while the administrative centralisation extinguishes the Nation in its ,,self-consciousness". Although the modern notion of self-government is spreading successfully in theory and practice, nevertheless it remains one of the most discussed problems. Why? Because many statesmen make the mistake of identifyng the form with the essentials of self-government without taking into account that political science has not yet discovered the common component of every form of self-government. As to the future development of Hungárián administrative lawj^ I have no doubt as to its ultimate success. We must promote and encourage a self-government system which pays honour to national traditions and is adapted to Hungárián public and social lif e. But we must clearly bear in mind the state-character of Hungárián self-government. I agree with the theory that the setting aside of this point of view would result in anarchy similar to that produced by the French revolutionists who treated Franch self-government as an originál power. The Local Government Law No. XXX of 1929 being promulgated, we are called upon to perform it in the completest and most successful manner. This work can only be carried out wlien the citizens reálisé that their participation in the local Civil Service may be their most precious power but only when they fulfill their duties in the most conscientious way. The citizen who participates in the local Government has to feel the responsability connected with it. One Hungárián political writer is right when he states that the greatest danger to the nation lies in the bureaucratic inclination of the citizens to allow all public duties to be performed by officials and to exercise political power without performing political duties.1 1 Cf. „L'évolution constitutionnelle de la Hongrie at sa situation actuelle en droit public", by Maurice de Tomcsányi, p. 23 of this Review.