Water management networks in Hungary: Network development in a period of transition

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In the countries of Central Europe the dynamics of network change are more marked than in most countries of Western Europe. The discontinuities between traditional patterns of water management and the new political and economic conditions that are presently emerging are quite dramatic. An examination of the way in which post‐communist developments are modifying the traditional system of Hungarian water management illustrates nicely the processes of institutional development and network change which are likely to be important in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe as well. Although things are in a state of flux ‐ and even though we have relatively little empirical information on actual operations — a brief description of the current arrangements for water management in Hungary provides a useful baseline from which to describe the institutional and societal context as well as the task environment out of which new patterns of water policy networks will develop. Such an analysis can suggest ways in which network relations and formal institutions interact and mutually shape one another in the daily practices through which ‘real’ policy is developed and applied. The Hungarian case makes clear how broader system changes modify the context of sectoral networks and how these become embedded in larger political and social structures. It is this set of more extensive changes that has created the need for new network relations and has, simultaneously, changed the rules and the conditions under which these will emerge. At the same time, a focus on the need actively to design and create such networks suggests the value in looking more closely at the nuts and bolts questions of how such cooperation can be brought about.