On 23 October 1989 Hungary instituted a new constitution and since that time has been operating as a democratic constitutional state. Being a parliamentarian democracy in Hungary the parliamentary elections take place in every 4 years in a complex two-round system. In the Parliament there are 386 seats of representatives of which 186 are elected directly. According to the results of the last election held in 2002 today four parties are presented (Hungarian Socialist Party, FIDESZ-Hungarian Civil Party, Alliance of Free Democrats, Hungarian Democratic Forum) of which the Hungarian Socialist Party and the Alliance of Free Democrats form the government.
Hungary's head of state is the president who is elected by the Parliament for 5 years.

Hungary's public administration is divided into 19 counties plus Budapest, which consist of 23 districts. According to the requirement of the EU 7 statistical regions has been formed and county and regional development councils have been established for developing the countryside.