Digitization is an opportunity for everyone to be better, more efficient and more successful.[1] Whether we are looking at the level of an individual, a smaller or larger community, a business, or even the state itself, the use of the latest technologies is no longer an issue (perhaps no longer just an option) but a kind of necessity to meet different expectations. The state itself is in such a situation, it must meet today's expectations, be it self-imposed criteria or the expectations of its citizens, or perhaps the conditions of an external power (such as the EU) and it must take advantage of the achievements of digitization.. The aim of the present study is to examine how digital novelties have been utilized at the municipal level in Hungary in order to meet the criterion of Good State. For this purpose, we first examine central strategy-making from the perspective of municipal digitization, and then evaluate it through various professional materials. The focus of the study is on the centrally coordinated and implemented ASP[2] system of the autonomous municipalities, because this was the first unified domestic development to be introduced in the case of all municipalities, in contrast the former, typically island-like, individual developments.
The government that came to power in 2010 - already the barest beginning - developed a number of measures and plans and embarked on the transformation of several cardinal areas. (as is always the case with new governments). The public administration could not "escape" the introduction of innovations either. The program for the transformation of public administration was hallmarked by the name of Zoltán Magyary. The program was released for the first time on the anniversary of the namesake's birth on June 10, 2011,[3] and for the second time on August 31, 2012.[4] "The goals and principles, peculiarities listed in the introduction of the program are gathered under the buzzword »good state«".[5]
The legal bases and organizational framework for the renewal of the public administration were established by the Magyary programs, however, "the most important goal, the creation of the provider state, has not yet been achieved",[6] János LÁZÁR said this in the greeting of the Public Administration and Public Service Development Strategy 2014-2020 (from now on: Development Strategy).
Measuring the results and efficiency of government functions ("good state") has significant international practice, which also served as a pattern for Hungary. Among the international surveys, the Government at a Glance (GaaG) report[7] should be emphasized, which compares the government performance of OECD member countries. On the other hand, the Bertelsmann Stiftung's Transformation Index (BTI)[8] should be highlighted, which analyzes and assesses the quality of democracy, market economy and political management in 129 developing and transition countries. The indicators and results of the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking[9] were also taken into consideration when developing the domestic indicators Thus, these international documents also provided a basis for the preparation of the domestic Good State and Governance reports.[10]
In the present study, therefore, we want to transform the good state approach to the municipal level, and there we try to focus mainly on the opportunities provided by digitization. In this article we deal tangentially with the main municipality guidelines of the Magyary programs and the Development Strategy. Furthermore, taking into account the municipal aspects, we examine the Good State and Governance reports in detail, as well as other professional materials related to digitization.
We also intend to use the study to proof two hypotheses.
The first hypothesis is that the centrally coordinated municipal digitization developments provided a significant push and opportunity for the development of the Good State in several aspects.
The second hypothesis is that the municipal ASP system is one of the most complex electronic administration system from the customer's point of view.
Following the 2010 parliamentary elections, the Government defined the Magyary Program as a theoretical and action framework for its plan for the full administrative renewal of the Hungarian state. Initially, it would have been released annually, but in the end "only" two versions were born, setting the direction for improvements over several years. As mentioned in the introduction, the goal of the Magyary programs was to build a good state. "Without immerse in the interpretation of good as a concept, our starting point is that the state can be considered good by serving the needs of individuals, communities and businesses in the most appropriate way and within the framework of the public good."[11] Furthermore, a good state includes the protection of natural and cultural values and the enforcement of the principles of effective rule of law and accountability. We need to deal with the Magyary programs because the municipality reforms at that time - in connection with the reorganization of the territorial state administration - were closely related to the Magyary program 11.[12] The three "components" of a good state development concept are the Magyary program, municipality reform and judicial reform. The 11 main development goals of the Magyary program were focused at the central bodies of public administration and the organizational system of state administration. However, some of its measures have also contributed to the development of the municipal organizational system and human resources.
In defining the 11 objectives of the Magyary program, the public administrative development concepts implemented in the Member States of the European Union were taken into account, according to which the following objectives were pursued: increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration, reducing public administration expenditure, ncreasing public administration capacity, involving citizens, increasing transparency, modernizing administrative work, computerising, citizen-friendly administration, citizen charters. Basically, the target system of the program wanted to intervene in the development of public administration in four areas. These four areas are organization, task, procedure, and staff. Of these four target areas, no municipal mention was made in the procedural area alone in the program, so we will not examine this further.
One of the defining parts of the renewal of the administrative organization was the transformation of the territorial administration. As part of the transformation of the territorial administration, on Ja-
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nuary 1, 2011, the government agency - as the general territorial governmental bodies of the Government - and later the district offices began to function.[13] It is clear from the preamble of the law establishing districts that the purpose of establishing districts was (also) to create the conditions for the operation of a good state. The Magyary program, together with the local government reform, transformed the system of local public affairs and state administration affairs, thus bringing about a change in the organizational system of municipalities. In terms of tasks, they wanted to review the powers of the notary in the following respects: "(professional) powers in the field of local public affairs (in the future, the competence of the municipality); state administration (professional) competences (in the future government agency competence) and administrative (functional) competences in the competence of both bodies (district office and local municipality)."[14] The program envisages the review and deregulation of municipal laws by the Deputy State Secretariat for Municipality (Ministry of the Interior). With regard to staff, the program established the coordination of the activities of ministries, municipalities and other bodies, as well as defining uniform staff policy principles. In these three areas the program required regulation by cardinal law on local governments and related legislation.
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