Civil society plays a very huge role in our societies. It bridges the gap between the public & private sector and the society. When either of the two sectors falls short and fails the citizens of a nation, it is the civil society that steps up to provide what is needed. For this reason, the civil society has a great responsibility in our societies. In Hungary, the civil society sector developed steadily after a change in the political system in 1989. The sector engaged in cultural activities, sports & recreation, education, social care and economic development. For close to two decades the sector cooperated well with the political, legal, and economic sectors of the government. However, this cooperation has deteriorated in the last six years.
The Government began gaining control of the civil society by persecuting and discriminating against independent Civil Society Organizations. Restrictive laws which limited civic freedom were passed and there was biased funding schemes which were against independent Civil Society Organizations. Proxy civic organizations were created and funded by the government to weaken and further marginalise independent civil society organizations. This undermined the trust of these organizations and scuppered potential solidarity and cooperation within the civic sector. The Hungarian government sees civil organizations as more of political enemies, raising legitimacy questions and labelling them as the opposition’s political tool or foreign agents hiding behind civic organizations. This scares away potential domestic donors and volunteers and increases the dependence of the civil organizations on foreign donors and get this, the Hungarian government tries its best to scare away foreign donors and it has control over how the aid from abroad is distributed. However, all these challenges do not spell doom and gloom for the Civil Society Organizations in Hungary. The organizations are diversifying and expanding their scope of operations, thus attracting a larger berth of volunteers and donors, increased government control has seen more community involvement by citizens taking upon themselves to commit where the government has failed, and finally the rise of online activism via social media has increased the influence of the organisations and reduced the power of the Hungarian Government’s propaganda.