The Cargo Cult of Democracy in Romania

by Sorin Ionita,

It is possible that the airplane of good governance and prosperity will eventually land in Romania too? This paper starts from a metaphor that points the effects of a self-illusionate population. The author asks himself if, in the actuall state of development of Romanian economy and politics, there may be some chances left. In a country which dessilude itself with a kind self-perception, the reality may be a different odd. The deficit of governance given by a strange byzanthin manner of managing politics, the problems of a model which can be encountered in the underdeveloped countries, namely missing policies model, the administrative problems created by the second level communist inherited public employees and, first of all, the “amoral habits ” of the ruling elites, all these are measures for a weak managed country. Thereby, the role of the civil society and especially of the local think-thanks dealing with the transitional problems is crucial. There are some conditions in order that local think-thanks can do their job properly: independence, “one-direction orientation”, better communication strategies and a coherent foreign donors help.

published in Vol 3 - No 1 - 2003 // Reinventing Social Sciences
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  • Alina Mungiu-Pippidi (chair) Hertie School of Governance
  • Larry Diamond Stanford University
  • Tom Gallagher University of Bradford
  • Alena Ledeneva University College London
  • Michael McFaul Stanford University
  • Dennis Deletant Georgetown University
  • Helen Wallace London School of Economics and Political Science

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  • Claudiu Tufiș
  • Bogdan Iancu
  • George Jiglau
  • Ingi Iusmen
  • Gabriel Bădescu
  • Andrei Macsut
  • Laura Voinea

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Societatea Academica Romana