ABSTRACT
This chapter presents Romania profiles of longstanding democracies and of the European Union, and provides essential detail on history, electoral system, political parties and cleavages, and governments. Romania was recognized as independent at the Berlin Congress in 1878. Romania’s transition from communism was relatively violent and brutal, culminating in the 25 December 1989 execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife. The former hard-line communists were briefly represented in Romanian politics by the neo-communist Socialist Party of Labour, which was also nationalist. For most elections since 1990 Romania has used two-tiered party list proportional representation, with the Hare method used in each region and d’Hondt used nationally. The main group that emerged in opposition to the National salvation front and its later splinter parties was the Democratic Convention of Romania. Romania had its share of nationalist and populist radical right parties, most importantly in its initial post-Nicolae Ceausescu elections.
