Social Capital and the Integration of Minorities and Immigrants in Hungary

The paper argues that the integration of immigrants has not been a particularly strong public policy issue in Hungary. Although national institutions have been encouraged by European policy-makers to introduce policies supportive of integration, practical action is low key on both the government and the civic side. The very low numbers of non-ethnic-Hungarian immigration and the manageable numbers of immigration of ethnic Hungarians from neighboring countries is the main reason for this. A second dimension though in the Hungarian case, is that for many, the issue of greater minority integration is a Roma question. In this regard, there are many signs of both greater public/civic activity as well as trends auguring greater exclusion. Evaluating the importance of social capital for fostering greater integration is not without controversy. Minority self-governance offers some political representation and can act as an important bonding and bridging resource, but where socio-economic problems are as great as they are for the Roma, such institutions are insufficient.