Nation-Building and Contested Identities - MEK

Can Democracy Work in SoutheasternEurope? Ethnic Nationalism vs. DemocraticConsolidation in Post-Communist RomaniaDRAGOº PETRESCURomania’s bloody revolution contradicted the non-violent, peacefulcharacter of other 1989 Eastern European revolutions. As J. F.Brown has argued, the Romanian revolution added to the EasternEuropean revolutions the missing elements of a “classic” revolution:violence, bloodshed and tyrannicide. 1 Nevertheless, Romania’s unexpectedand violent exit from communism contrasted sharply with itsslow and painful post-communist transformation. In their attempt tofind an explanation to Romania’s long and difficult transition to a democraticpolitical system and a market economy, many scholars haveargued that the legacy of Romanian national-communism was one ofthe most enduring communist legacies in East-Central Europe and thatRomania entered the post-communist transformation with a serioushandicap. Others have invoked the “civilizational incompetence” of themore backward, “Balkan” Romania and even the “national character”of the Romanians.The present paper examines the outburst of ethnic nationalism thatfollowed the breakdown of the communist regime in Romania, explainshow the affective approach to nationhood of the majority of the Romanianshampered a rapid democratization of the country, and argues that a shiftfrom ethnic to civic nationalism would accelerate the process of democraticconsolidation and European integration. 2 I explore the intricate relationshipbetween ethnic nationalism and democratic transformation, stressingthe importance of developing a political culture based on civic nationalism,and demonstrating that the political and economic transformations mustreach an equilibrium. Finally, I discuss what are the major threats to democraticconsolidation in Romania. The paper concludes that Romania has tosurpass the “failure complex” induced by a decade of a mishandled transitionto democracy and protracted economic transformation and, drawing onErnest Gellner’s ideas, proposes a solution centered on three main issues:(1) political stability and continuity; (2) economic affluence; and (3) culturalpluralism and de-territorialization of nationalism. My argument can besummarized in the form of four statements:275