The Failure of a Political Project. Bipartidism in Interwar Romania
The Failure of a Political Project. Bipartidism in Interwar Romania

Summary/Abstract: The modernization of the traditional societies challenges the ability of the politi­cal élites to ensure political stability. Political stability can be achieved through a certain design of the party system, which could be dominated by a single party, or could be characterized by bi- or multipartidism. Maintaining politi­cal stability was also a priority for the political élites of interwar Romania, who wished to restore the model of the pre-war stable bipartidism. The electoral legislation of 1926 aimed to consolidate a two-party system, but in the long term it had the perverse effect of multipolarization. While painting a very de­tailed analysis of the interwar party system, the author argues that such effects are due to the influence of the very competitive political culture of the ideology- driven ruling class, a "political tradition", which undermined political stability. Moreover, while the electoral legislation introduced in 1926 was maintained, a new propensity to short-sighted bargaining and the paucity of the social issues raised by the parties marked the ever more complex party politics, as the effects of this socio-cultural context began to wane.

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