Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T16:17:52.605Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Romanian exceptionalism? Democracy, ethnocracy, and uncertain pluralism in post-Ceauşescu Romania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2011

Vladimir Tismaneanu
Affiliation:
University of Maryland
Karen Dawisha
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Bruce Parrott
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Until the November 1996 presidential and parliamentary elections, postcommunist Romania presented scholars of the transition with a striking paradox: the most abrupt break with the old order seemed to have resulted in its least radical transformation. Many old faces remained in power while skillfully putting on new masks. Romania-watchers are thus divided between those who highlight the failure of the revolution, and those who think that former President Ion Iliescu did his utmost under the existing circumstances to turn his country into a functioning democracy. The major themes addressed in this paper are therefore linked to the widely perceived “exceptional” nature of Romania's transition from state socialism. In the concluding pages I will address the meaning of the 1996 elections which resulted in Iliescu's defeat and a major victory of his opponents, including Emil Constantinescu's election as Romania's president.

No other East European Leninist regime was overthrown by a violent popular uprising from below. In no other country of the region did the communist governments resort to ruthless forms of repression against peaceful demonstrators during the dramatic events of 1989. Yet the continuities with the old regime are in many respects more marked in Romania than in other East European countries (except perhaps the former Yugoslavia and Slovakia). I argue that some of these features are linked to the traditions of the country's political culture, but they do not make Romania a completely unique case.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×