Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Parties of the radical right have gained electoral support in European Union countries in recent years. Explanations of this support tend to focus on these parties’ ability to tap into citizen attitudes and fears related to globalization issues: immigration, global competition, and loss of cultural identity. In many cases, the EU itself becomes a symbol of these globalizing tendencies which the radical right uses to delineate political space between themselves and other pro-European parties. Does this apply to the radical right political parties of Romania? The paper evaluates this question by tracking the evolution of radical right parties in Romania (PRM and the New Generation Party) in terms of each party’s electoral base supporters. It finds that the PRM is in a much weaker position based on its trajectory concerning EU integration than the New Generation Party which can (and has) distanced itself form support of Romania’s EU accession. Thus, the New Generation Party poses the greater challenge to pro-European parties and its future electoral success will depend on its ability to mobilize Romanian voters dissatisfied with the European Union.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The idea of human rights is primarily the product of the Western European and North American cultural, religious and historical background. I would like to assess the implications of human rights’ claim to universality and universal applicability when one addresses these issues from a different background. In other words, I would like to ask in what ways the process of implementing a human rights regime in Eastern Europe is influenced by two factors: on the one hand, by the recent experience of totalitarianism in its communist form; on the other, by the fact that certain Eastern European societies come from a particular interpretation of Judeo-Christianity, i.e., the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
The first thesis I would like to argue is that the closer the Eastern European countries are traditionally, spiritually and culturally to the traditions and the value systems of the countries of Western Europe, the easier it is to learn and implement the new vocabulary of human rights. The argument will be supported by an assessment of the violation of human rights in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The study will show how the anthropology and the approach to religion and tradition specific to this area of Europe influence the discourse on human rights. Two aspects will be assessed: first, a specific anthropology, generally resulting from the programmatic ideological battle led by the communist regimes against any notion of individual worth, for the sake of creating “The New Man”, a collectivist entity that would exist solely to serve the higher goals of the Party; secondly, the different interpretation of Judeo-Christianity which led to a different approach to religion and traditionalism. Given the massive return to religion since 1989 (941f the population), special attention will be consecrated to Romania and the way in which humanity, religion and tradition are understood.
This will lead into the second thesis of the argument: if religion/religiosity and tradition, particularly in their Eastern Orthodox form, are to play a constructive role in the unavoidable and irreversible process of European integration with its implied human rights regime, religiosity has to undergo a significant process of renewal. This would include a new understanding of tradition, one more informed by Anthony Giddens’ discussion of tradition within the predominantly reflexive character of modernity. In other words, our religiosity should be separated from blind mysticism. It should rediscover its universality and search for a correct understanding of ecumenicity. This should mean separation from blind ritualism, traditionalism and fundamentalism and a reflexive individual appropriation of the teachings that make up the universal fabric of the Christian faith.

Publication Type: Proceeding

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper uses an approach inspired by Alexander Wendt's constructivism in order to analyze the rise and fall of three post-Communist "soft" authoritarian regimes responsible for Romania's, Bulgaria's, and Slovakia's difficult democratization: the neo-Communist regime of president Ion Iliescu (1990-1996) that used ultra-nationalism in order to legitimize itself as well as to hamper the development of democratic values; the ultra-nationalist regime of Prime Minister Vladimir Mečiar in newly independent Slovakia (1993-1998); and the neo-Communist regime of Prime Minister Jan Videnov in Bulgaria (1995-1997).
The three authoritarian regimes were able to hamper but not to eliminate the influence of external factors. Bucharest, Sofia, and Bratislava were members of three institutional structures – the CSCE/OSCE, European Union's Europe Agreements, and NATO's Partnership for Peace – that facilitated the diffusion of Western democratic values. This led to the progressive development of vibrant civil societies, which in turn seriously eroded political support for neo-Communists and ultra-nationalists. In 1996-1998, electoral "revolutions" brought the fall of the three regimes. The new, democratic ruling forces took resolute steps toward democratization that allowed the three countries to finally join the rest of CEE-10 states in their NATO and EU accession efforts.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The main question addressed by this paper is whether or not there are some grounds for optimism that since the 2004 elections some of the problems pertaining to the institutionalization of democracy in Romania since 1989 are likely to be corrected. The problems include serious questions regarding the rule of law, the clientelistic nature of political parties, the lack of accountability of political elites, and the use of a constructive rather than a personalized and accusatory dialogue between political opponents.
The conclusion of the paper is that so far, Romania seems to resemble the model of an “incomplete democracy” and is less likely in the foreseeable to approximate the model of a liberal democracy.
It also remains to be seen whether the process of accession to the EU and the latter’s monitoring of the justice system will result in a real reformation or whether it will remain at the level of cosmetic surgery.