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An exploration is made of the nature and scope of de-communization and political justice in Czechoslovakia (the Czech Republic, Slovakia), Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and Hungary, to each of which a section of the chapter is devoted. The term ‘political justice’ is here meant to refer to proceedings held to try crimes (generally related to political repression) committed by outgoing regimes. With the exception of Albania, transitions to democracy in these countries were initiated in 1989, and in all cases, great political tensions arose from demands for the punishment of former communist authorities and those responsible for political repression. These demands formed part of a wider political and cultural process, namely the reworking of public discourse on the nature of the communist regime, and their nature and results varied considerably from country to country; for example, only two – the former Czechoslovakia and Albania – actually carried out purges that affected large numbers of people. This chapter attempts to answer to two main questions: (1) what explains the differences in the scope and nature of the policies adopted, and (2) what impact have they had on the process of democratization. The focus is on the rationality of the political actors or the role that anti-communist campaigns had in shaping political competition, rather than the moral and legal debates surrounding the issue.

In the ten years of post‐communist transition, the countries of Eastern and Central Europe have passed through several election cycles, providing new evidence of the influence of formal political institutions on transition dynamics. This chapter examines the transitional development of their party systems as a function of institutional choices. Focusing on party systems, it identifies the process of coalition formation as the transmission mechanism by which institutions influence political consolidation at this stage. It addresses the transitional influence of combinations of majoritarian and power‐sharing institutions, suggesting that their interactive effect may undermine or weaken the incentives for party‐building that each of them can separately provide. The article provides supporting evidence from Poland and Romania.

Describes how constitutionalism contributed to the democratic consolidation in post‐communist Romania. The author emphasizes the fact that Romania could hardly be described as having a constitutional tradition, since none of the previous regimes developed a tradition of observing their constitutions. Therefore, it may seem questionable whether the post‐communist constitution could have a significant impact on democratic consolidation in Romania. Nevertheless, in 1990, the constitutionalization process was the main focus of the new political elite. This chapter describes what kind of political reforms have been adopted in order to improve the constitution and avoid problems resulting from its ambiguity. It shows how the weaknesses of the current Constitution have paradoxically played an important role in bolstering Romanian civil society. The author prescribes several constitutional amendments that could transform the Romanian Constitution into a viable basis for democracy in the country.

Argues that the process of building democracy in Romania is dependent on a favourable external environment and active support from abroad. However, Romania has benefited far less from external efforts to promote democracy than most other ex‐Warsaw Pact States. The chapter points to some of the reasons of the retarded progress of democratization in Romania, such as a historical legacy of foreign occupation and sharp internal economic, cultural, and ethnic cleavages. The communist regime's determination to retain absolute control over politics and society and oppose any liberal initiatives in economics blocked off the possibility of any democratic transition. The activity of anti‐reformers described as ‘nomenklatura nationalists’ also contributed to the weakness of democratic consolidation in Romania. They demonstrated their ascendancy by blocking economic reforms between 1989 and 96, with the support of Russia, which sought to make Romania dependent on Russia's cheap energy supplies in return for political compliance. The author makes a case for a new approach to democracy building from domestic reformers and international organizations that recognizes Romania's special problems and pursues realistic targets.

Assesses the trajectories and dynamics of public support for seven democratizing regimes in Central and Eastern Europe—Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia—during the first five years following the fall of communism. It begins by offering a reconceptualization of support for new democracies. An examination is then made of popular approval of the new regimes in 1991, shortly following the collapse of communism, and the trajectory of support is tracked through to 1995. Next, a model of the dynamics underlying these trends is developed and tested, paying particular attention to the extent to which support is contingent on political and economic performance. More generally, an exploration is made of whether and to what extent the sources of support change over time as citizens acquire experience with the new regimes.

Romania emerged from one of the darkest periods in its history in December 1989, when Ceauşsescu's regime was overthrown, leaving Romania with a traumatized population and a devastated economy, and the gradual establishment of a democratic system of government during the last seven years has been painful and not without setbacks. The new institutional system established in Romania is semi‐presidential in the sense of the definition used in this book: it has a directly elected fixed‐term president alongside a prime minister who is responsible to parliament. The semi‐presidential system of government was established gradually, initially on the basis of the Electoral Law of 14 Mar 1990 and the rules of procedure of parliament adopted after the May 1990 elections. The institutional provisions of the Electoral Law and the rules of procedure of parliament subsequently formed the basis of the semi‐presidential system of government established under the new constitution, which was approved in a referendum in December 1991. It is important to note that there is no historical precedent for the establishment of a semi‐presidential system of government in Romania, and the inheritance of the whole period between independence (in 1878) and the fall of the Ceauşescu regime generally provides an unsuitable basis for the development of a democratic system of government. The chapter is divided into three main parts, organised according to the three factors identified by Duverger as determining for the leadership style in semi‐presidential systems: the events surrounding the formation of the system; the constitutional powers of the president, prime minister, and parliament; and the nature of the parliamentary majority and the relationship between the president and the majority.

This paper analyses minority rights in Romania. It argues that the costs of minority rights are not very high, and that many societies can pay them. Minority rights are often a matter of political will rather than cost; real limits exist only under circumstances of severe scarcity. This is true to a certain extent in Romania, and its main minorities — the Hungarians and the Roma. Although there is no real financial obstacle to solving the Hungarian demand for a Hungarian language state university, there are limits in promoting an affirmative action programme for the Roma.

The Communist Party took power in Romania after the Second World War and Romania formed part of the ‘Eastern bloc’ of Soviet satellite states. The dramatic events of December 1989 overthrew the authoritarian regime, and led to the country's transition from a centrally planned to a market-oriented economy. This chapter examines the pre-transitional and transitional development of one particular part of the Romanian economy — the IT industry, focusing on the hardware and software industries.

This chapter presents a detailed analysis of two important supplier countries for mainly European buyer firms — Turkey and Romania. Turkish and Romanian firms are situated in their specific economic, social, and geo-political environments. The chapter enquires how national contexts have shaped firms' capabilities and their competitiveness as suppliers. It explores how supplier firms view the relationships with their buyers, with a particular focus on the distinctions they make between trading partners from different national origins.

Working in the year 525, Dionysius Exiguus drafted a 95‐year list of Easter dates as a continuation of an Alexandrian list that ended with the 247th year of Diocletian. Dionysius began his own list with the year AD 532, because he did not want to perpetuate the memory of Diocletian. This study examines the history of Easter calculations in the ancient church and the question of why Dionysius decided that Diocletian 247 should be followed by AD 532. Dionysius himself was originally from what is now the modern country of Romania. He moved to Rome about AD 500. Dionysius was the author of the first collection of ecclesiastical canons, as well as the Easter‐table. He also translated frito Latin several works of the Greek fathers of the church.

Chapter 1, ‘Five Biographical Profiles’, is dedicated to the discussion of the five historians' lives and writings on an individual basis. It thus contains the intellectual and political mini‐biographies of Joachim Lelewel (Polish, 1786–1861), Simonas Daukantas (Lithuanian, 1793–1864), František Palacký (Czech, 1798–1876), Mihály Horváth (Hungarian, 1804–78) and Mihail Kogălniceanu (Romanian, 1818–91). It considers their political and academic careers and the relationship between the two. It looks at the social milieu to which they were born, their education, what motivated them to become historians and the intellectual atmosphere in which they pursued their studies and which may well have been influential in their subsequent scholarly ventures. It touches on the milestones in their lives and professional careers, their salient writings and activities, and the most important shifts in their life‐work.

This book explores social, political, and cultural issues that arose in connection with literature largely conceived in the aftermath of World War II, and extending throughout the twentieth century. It contains essays on France, focusing on individual writers such as Paul Valéry, Jacques Maritain, Albert Camus, André Malraux, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Yves Bonnefoy, and on French intellectuals between the wars. The book also looks at Germany and Romania, with essays on Ernst Juenger, Gottfried Benn, Erich Kahler, E. M. Cioran, Mircea Eliade, and Eugène Ionesco. Other essays focus on Nicola Chiaromonte and his ideas on the novel and modern history since Napoleon, Gary Saul Morson, Ian Watt, T. S. Eliot, and R. P. Blackmur. Finally, the book discusses the history of the novel and the art of literary realism.