HUNGARY

Despite generally good electoral procedures, Hungary's democratic landscape shows flaws.

A politicized media is biased toward the large political parties. The government favors loyal media outlets, and controls the public media's budget.

Discrimination against women, Roma, the disabled, and gay and lesbians is evident, and corruption is a major issue.

Legal certainty is impaired by the inconsistency of laws and their implementation.

Hungary's governments have sought ambitious economic modernization, but spending has badly outpaced revenues.

Huge deficits necessitated a controversial austerity program in 2006. Foreign investment has been strong, but there is little interaction between foreign multinationals and domestic companies.

Low employment rates and weak labor mobility have persisted despite active labor market programs.

Poverty has risen in Hungary since 1989, with dramatic regional disparities developing.

The post-Soviet health care insurance system is deeply inefficient, with rising costs and a reliance on informal payments undermining universal care. Reforms launched in 2006 have met political complications.

A trend back toward traditional family roles has been addressed by offering more part-time employment to women. Recent pension reforms have improved the system's fiscal outlook.

As an EU and NATO member, Hungary's external security risks are low.

However, budget cutbacks have complicated the modernization of the army, a requirement of the country's military alliances.

Integration policy is a work in progress, focusing today largely on repatriated ethnic Hungarians, and largely lacking support for migrants of other communities.

With relatively low levels of pollution and energy use, Hungary has given considerable attention to environmental policy and projects.

However, research and education are borderline fields. The country has remarkable scientific resources, now declining through underuse. Recent governments have tried to halt this slide.

Education spending levels are high, but quality has declined in recent years, and is marked by strong regional disparities.

Strategic planning increased dramatically following the 2006 elections, with planning units created in all ministries, and a new pair of cabinet committees charged with developing long-term, cross-ministry strategies.

A powerful prime minister's office helps coordinate proposals across ministry lines. New RIA guidelines were published, but implementation has been slow

Coalition governments have sometimes issued contradictory communication.

The post-2006 government's ambitious reform agenda passed only in part, hampered by fiscal cutbacks.

About 90 percent of government-sponsored bills were adopted, but issues such as government and tax reform remained unfinished.

The Constitutional Court wields the only significant veto. It has often ruled on politicized issues such as education and health care reform.

Despite efforts to adapt domestic government structures, implementation of EU programs has remained problematic.

Nonetheless, Hungary has committed itself clearly to multilateralism.

The country has been a late follower with respect to reforms, but has shared its experiences with western Balkan neighbors.

The government has tried to monitor the institutional arrangements of governing in various ways.

It adopted large-scale institutional reforms of the executive branch after the 2006 elections.

Deeply polarized, Hungary's public dialogue skews toward political, rather than policy issues.

Most citizens have only rudimentary knowledge of government policy, with media coverage tending towards infotainment. The parliament makes frequent use of various oversight mechanisms.

Party platforms are dominated by unrealistic rhetoric, and interest group relevance is low.