Democracy in Romania
Historic roots and the latest development
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Romania is often seen as being a special case, where democracy has particularly shallow roots. However, on closer inspection, it emerges that there have by all means been liberal tendencies in Romania’s history. Over the past 200 years, Romania has moved with the flow of events in Europe – from the introduction of the constitutional monarchy in the 19th century to the mass democracy of the 20th. Free elections were still being held in Romania in 1937, when dictatorships dominated in most of the other states of central-eastern Europe. After that, the fate of the country was determined by various dictators. However, the democratic tradition has not been lost. Over the past ten years, democracy in Romania has experienced a notable upturn and has defied all attempts to quell it.
(Osteuropa 6-8/2019, pp. 51–62)