Кризата на представителната демокрация – румънската специфика
The Crisis of the Representative Democracy – the Romanian Specificity

Summary/Abstract: This text tries to trace several problems that the Romanian representative democracy encounters today – the crisis of the parliamentary representativeness, the citizen’s lack of interest for politics, the corruption, the progress of nationalism and populism, the economical and the political dependence of the media. In order to achieve its goal it studies not only the actual political developments but also several reflexes and habits in the longue durée. One of the points of interest is the Romanian minority policy. 18 registered minorities in Romania have the right to have their own deputy in the lower chamber of the parliament: this rule which apparently guarantees a better representativeness is in the same time a factor for a diminished role of the biggest minority – the Hungarian one, creates the conditions for the division of the minorities and finally contributes to a „symbiosis” between the governing party and the „group of the minorities”. Another point of interest is the history of the nationalistic party „Romania mare” which is studied in order to show the relation between the Romanian nationalism after 1989 and Ceausescu’s nationalism of the 80s. The text studies also the lack of clear poles on the Romanian political scene. Since 2004 all the possible coalitions between the major parties have been tried – a fact that makes the electorate more and more confused. Finally, the text focuses on the biographies of several „billionaires of the transition”. Even if they preach the separation between the state and the economy, many of the new Romanian capitalists have made their fortunes due to their close relation with the state which they maintain by all means even today – they sponsor political campaigns, they buy media, they create foundation meant to attract the intellectual elite on their part.

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