Active labour market policy as a source of legitimacy for governments of Central Europe countries – comparative analysis

Background: Active labour market policies (ALMP) are relatively new government programmes for Central European countries. The Visegrad Group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) have enjoyed economic growth since 1989, when Soviet Union influence decreased. Second event, which triggered their rapid growth, was the membership in the European Union of all V4 countries in 2004. The most important and still unsolved problem among these countries is the unemployment. In many economies, both developed and developing, we can assume that proper labour market policy can be a source of legitimacy for governments (King and Rothstein 1994, p. 291). This article addresses the question about the value of ALMP in relationship between government performance on the one hand and citizen satisfaction and trust in government on the other. Research aims: The aim of the study is to compare three main categories of ALMP (public employment services, training schemas, employment subsidies) in the V4 member states and analysis of their impact to legitimacy of governments according to the three hypotheses: (1) the trade-off hypothesis, (2) the synergy hypothesis and (3) the independence hypothesis. Methodology: The adopted research method was an analysis of the reports of the public sector in the Visegrad Group countries, as well as foreign and national literature studies. Key findings: The analysed research results clearly show a different approach in performance of ALMP in the V4 member states. Well performed active labour market policy (for example signified by low unemployment rate) is a source of legitimacy for governments according to the synergy hypothesis