Problems of political legitimacy and democratic consolidation in post-communism: The case of Romania in comparative perspective

This dissertation examines the importance of democratic legitimacy for the process of democratic consolidation in post-communist Romania after December 1989. The main argument presented is that after fourteen years of transition to democracy Romania continues to experience a persistent gap between the normative and procedural or formal aspects of legitimacy. This has stalled the process of democratization without, however, necessarily threatening to undermine it.; Unlike Bulgaria, the former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland the violent and abrupt collapse of the communist regime did not and could not facilitate any compromise or negotiation between the former communists and emerging opposition groups. In consequence, the first decade of democratic transition was characterized by a high degree of polarization between two main political forces. These were represented by the heirs to the National Salvation Front (the provisional body set up in December 1989 and later a political party that renamed itself several times) and the newly re-established pre-World War II historical parties.; This state of affairs was paralleled by a lack of accountability of political elites who primarily engaged in clientelistic and corrupt practices. Political parties and individual politicians who sought political office through elections, together with elected officials in the judicial system, treated political office as a means to dispense privileges and advantages and also became integrated with a developing economic oligarchy. This clientelistic and office-seeking orientation restricted the role of politicians to the strictly procedural and legal level of competing in elections and failed at the same time to socialize party followers in the democratic norms and values of civic culture. After more than a decade, citizens continue to view the state and its institutions with mistrust and cynicism. Democracy is largely grounded in apathy, there being a perceived lack of acceptable alternatives to it. This lack of normative legitimacy has inhibited the process of democratization and led to anti-democratic ideologies of extreme nationalism and populism. In these circumstances, democratic legitimacy has become simply acquiescence to a politically and economically unsatisfactory state of affairs, that is, passive legitimacy.; The conclusion of the dissertation is that there is a strong possibility that in the near future political developments will fail to generate a vigorous and well-supported consolidated democracy involving collective acceptance on fully normative grounds. Democracy can persist without a requisite degree of legitimation, but the question is for how long can it function effectively.