중동부유럽

The recent political transformations implemented by political elites in Romania, following the accession to the EU, may represent more than serious concerns for political efficiency and accountability. Despite their initial claims to reshape state institutions and to increase the economic performance and despite a number of legitimate transformations already in place, power elites seemed rather interested in having gotten rid of any ideological burden, and looked to favourable mechanisms of consolidating their power. This article highlights elites’ willingness to control the political system and their subsequent shift from legitimate political changes to more personal attempts to bend rules in order to consolidate their power. With no vigorous civil society, a weakened mass-media due to regional economic crisis, and still inchoate political parties, this article shows how democratic institutions and neutral and independent bodies in Romania found themselves under political elites’ siege for tight political control. This political behaviour, recently labelled as “political hooliganism”, may undermine democratic consolidation and help paving the way for more radical and authoritarian political movements.