An Update on The Ideological Institutionalization of the Romanian Party System (2012 – 2020)

First Name
Iulia-Marilena
Last Name
Sbârcea
Institution/University
National School of Political Science and Public Administration
Conference Panels
Paper/Abstract submission

The present article aims to continue the longitudinal study of ideological competition in Romania by analysing electoral results in 2012, 2016 and 2020 to assess if further steps have been taken on the path of ideological institutionalization, with considerable attention given to the disappearance of some of the hallmark political parties representing the conservatory political family and the electoral success of new anti-system parties with no ties to previously existing political parties.

The paper continues the work of Sergiu Gherghina and George Jiglău (2011) who presented a thorough study of the volatility of political representation in Romania and revealed an “apparent paradox” brought by the tension between the decrease in number of political competitors, the small number of new entries in the Romanian party system and the ongoing ideological clarification among political parties, deviating from the predicted sharp ideological differences between competitors. My aim is to bring continuity to their research and test the present-day validity of their conclusion stating that the liberal party manifested the highest degree of institutionalization among all political families in Romania.

The study is strongly influenced by the tradition in compared political science set off by Duverger (1954), Sartori (1976) and And Lijphart (1999) in the study of political parties and party systems, weighing the number of parties in a political system, their ideological alignment, and relations between political competitors.

 

 BIBLIOGRAPHY Duverger, M. (1954). Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State. New York : Wiley.

Gherghină, S., & Jiglău, G. (2011). The Ideological Institutionalization of the Romanian Party System. Romanian Journal of Political Science, 11(1), 71-90.

Lijphart, A. (1999). Patterns of democracy : government forms and performance in thirty-six countries . New Haven & London: Yale University Press.

Sartori, G. (1976). Parties and party systems: a framework for analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.