ABSTRACT
Portugal and Romania have acquired markedly different forms of democracy following lengthy periods of authoritarian rule. In Portugal there has been a clear break with the past and a political system has emerged that fully corresponds to existing west European norms, one in which there has been regular alternation of parties in office in a context where basic rights and liberties are not in question. Meanwhile, in Romania, the emphasis has been on continuity as much as change, real doubts exist about how strongly entrenched individual and group rights are, and a ruling party whose personnel is largely drawn from the defunct Communist Party has largely shaped the political transition and filled most of the available political space.
