F;:"}x-fi-

iia'e Fciitics
cf Science
to tlae
Scierece
of
pclirics:
rhe
Dirficult
&,{ake
tJp Lr
,
he R-o r'nanran
Politicar
sciendu
.{\IEL
BARBU
'
For rhe
social s:i.^T:::l]lrgh
,L..rise
ancl
preciicamenr
of Romanian
porirical
science, as important
a.experieice.rs
it *.yi;i;;' n' o*o,.iur,
acaclemia,
is a topic
senlenced
to a certain degree
of obscurity.
no,nu"iul.,
r.r.,orurl".,' "y' r?"t,
o. an individuai
basis'
respectabllity
a..d' r".ognition
i. the
international
scie^tific
com-
muniry'
but trone
rvould
expeit them.to
sit co]Iecti".ry
ti.,. i";Ji;ffil;lut
scie,.,ce.
And it is only fair to say, thaimargintriry
ir p.tr-r.ir
ir-r.ti""scapable
fare of au pclitical
sc;*nce
enterrrises
in Ce:riiar anc EasiernE' rope.
rola-u.ica:r,
Britisri,
Geiman,
Frendr'
and even Iialian
political sci..,.u,
are not only
dominant,
bui also seif-reliant
andself-sufficient'
Thereiore,
it woulcl
u"
*"* i";;tJJ;g
to rook at rvhat I(omania.
poiitical
science
ri rather
ihan at what
ii aae+
"r
rrf";to
do. Thai is to say thai
Rsrnanian
poiitical
science could be noteworth),
-""i;
;',h" extent it is cornprelie*cled
frffi"l*:?H3:';
own righi, regardress
"f
,il;"';#.r
;;,*.,'i;;;J,ry
creares,
If we rnake^ours
Theodore
Lorvi' s
c,ontenlion
that the \!ray
*re study, politics
usuallv
abides
bv the politics rve study'..rl-.
th;i;;;.;i"gt,.-,u
i-ras the irrcrinaiion
io
produie a polirici
consonanto
irsell
"ia
,f.rri
,ril"qi;";u),,
ever), regirne
also tends
to generate
a political
science consistent
w;tniGir"t:ii;;;
if fotlouls tir-at in 1:ecomi.g
a\vare o' f R' hat Ronianian
pclitical science
tries
to be r,ve might jusi
learn sonethi.g
"OtX:-IT--rjan
post-commr:nist
polity
u,la
pJti.r."
-
)ee-r-nrngl y'
sudl a f t t ncbi onal
assessmeni i s' ot
cl oi ng
vi ol ence
t o a s. , rbsi ar-Lt i ai
o". d. t "f i l duof rof
ri rerat ure. I ndeed, . aRo; n; . J; ; i ru, i i "r
sci ence i i , j n=. , . e: _, __: , : arr\ ,
exisi
aiirj
js
stiil on ihe fringes
of existence.
I{hich' explirr-,s
to a large
e>:i.:rr :,-.: .-:-
puiarity
enjoyed
after 1989Ly all sorts
o.f rvriti.gs
";;;;
about
pclitics, rvhici,
s..,,.
to inciicate
to an inexpert
e1' q that the.iir.ipil:j,r"r?il,
taken
off. This _s:ai:;r,e:,:
is onlyoutrvardly
paridoxiial,
as a science
"-beaded
instrong
theoietical
tracjiticr..s
and ecnpiricar
eiolrrise
cloes nor usualry
1";;i;;;#;rry
gained popuJar
ia' oi.
For there
can be u f' u" acimittance
o"iv to those
ftteliectual
terriiories,
wiiich are noi
;' etmeihodologicaily mappgd ancl conceptually.h;;a.;
As soon as a^ intellectual
terrain
is colonized
by i given scie^ce,
udn' ,itto,-,.e
is iegututed
by a nr:rnber
o,f
rebtrictions
and exclusions.
Thus, the general
public
looses
control
over that fielcl of
knor+' Iacge..
A popuration
of
"speciaiisis;,-
rr"r"
."**ina
fro* that
mome.t
o' .
Academic
clearance
and brueprints
are t-r."lurortn
"."i?a.
Indeed,
if the very norion
of "scienrifil^11!;rr,j.";
iJ.pirt"mciogicalry
rveak, ir
is ne' eriheiess
indisplrable
that it iras
a clear
soiiar
conient
to the extent
it ack' or,v-
ledges
ihe existence
wiilri* the interlectuul
are.,a
oi uliiii".t group
of
,,specialistsi,
defined
by cerrain
r{9s
9f
scientific
production
;;;;;;aucEon.ier
us^rake ir fci
granted
that a scientific
discipline
is iully.rtlu,rirh.l
;^ri-,;' ;;i"J
f:' JrTl"rja2
aie
'1 :.
l
Ti eoCor e
J.
LOI YI , "The
St a t e i n
pol i t i cai
Sci o, r co. Hn, . , r , u^ F
^ - L
: . , ,
a
sc,e1g,!d,e-,ru,
"".
,,r!r;?;*Fcal
sciertce:
Horv lve sqcbo,*\v]'nt
\,ve study"',
in Anterican
pciir jcal
nr J,f:;,0;;;,f,*,1:F"rt1,*.,1',![j'":i:"ce
froritique", in rtoa.t'.in.
cp"Ar\Trz"
Jean
LECA, (eds),
rrelj
Ilor:rruir'!
PsEtica! Science Rciicu,
.
I t t D,\NltL lJ,UilJU
, i t : 1
,:,r
ri i :
9: :
. . 1: r t
I i .ri i
:
j : t j ;
.
' ' . ' :
. r . f
' i :
: ; i
' -lr' ll
. i i i
i:aili
' i r i . l
i l : :
ri', i
; r
l'- /,
r i ' . r
J
i I , ",
fulfiiled: a corlsensus on the veqy name and purpose of the disciplirre; an agreerllent
on the iopics that fall within
the capabiiities of the discipline ancl rvhich can be satis-
faciorv aidressed bv no other
branch of science; a number of institutions of educatipn
and research recognizeci arrd legitinrated by the academic commttnitY; ih_e accunu-
lation of a sufficient amount of resources a;d tools, such as journals,'textbooks,
flu-
blication.series, colloquia, con'ferences
and the like.
My argumentls that three of these four criteria are not as ydt utterly mef despite
the inlpressive quantity of tra4siations,
essays, commentaries, books-_a1d articles
related to politici which are currently published in Romania, First of all, there is no
consensus on the appropriate narne ior the study of politics. Political science, psli-
fica] scr'encesl and
'l
politology''
are siiii indistinctly used, both in ihe academia and
by the media. Secondly,
theie is no accord among "specialists" on what exactiy the
siience of politics is and does, and many even may doubt that a science of politics
could or shouid exist at ali. Finally, there is at best towards the end of the first post-
communist decad.e, that Romanian political scientists came to publish several books
based on original
S.orough research, either empirical or theoretical; moreover, the
first Ronianjin acaciemic pee''-revieweci
journal of politicai ;cience, S?adia Politica.
RomanianPoliticaJScienie Review'was
issued as late as 2001. The only criteion that
seems to be somehow satjsfied is the insiitutional one, as Lhere are several soljd
Departrnents of Political Science and a fair amount of their graduates. Nevertheless,
eve-n
at this level the critical question if political science has a name and a realm of
lis
own still remains .rnuns*e-t"d. Paradbxicaily
enough, two or.lt of the tluee major
departrrents do noi teach political science as a ciisciptrine in its own right.
-
To wind up, a coolmon r:rrderstaldltg of politics and its science does not exist
in Romania. There are still doubts as to the possibility to scientifically explaining politics
on the basis of endogenous approaches, as poiitical sibnce ciaims to be able to do2.
Politics seems to be, in the eyes of many a Romanian
"specialist"
the mere alecdotic
surface of othenvise deep-rooted phenomena of social and econonric nature. Politics
is commonly seen as driven mainly by societai inceniives and economic stimulus, as
devoid of its orrrn raiionalif, ald virtually always cornmanded by an externa-lrationa-le.
'Therefore,
it is probably saie to say ihat, aI least in thLis respect, dialectic and historical
materialism hai probably lost n'ruch of its reputation but not altoge'Jrer its irLfluence.
ln order to 6e ironically faithful to the Nlarxist teleology, this instance should
be referred to as a sublation,.meaning,
as Hegel did by this term, that scientific
socialism is consurrently cancelled and preservedin fie make up of.post-comrnunist
political science. This survey h.ies to explore preisely ihe reasons for this unrecognized
ind iiu;idious survival of an orthodox
and unexpeciedly enduring Marxism-Leninism
beyond the demise of communism
and its scientific explanation of history and society.
A Tentatiue Genealogt of tlte Politics of Science
ln pre-communistRomania,
polificai science practically did not-exis! as an auto-
uomou! field of teaching and research. For a short time after 1915, ihe' University of
t
Thi s si range pl ural coul d be expl ai ned_i n two \vays: ei ther,as an abbrevi ati on of the "pol i ti cal and soci al
sie.5rces- of the"pr!-1989 period, or is un acknorvledgement
that under.il'e t1p;l.o! the study of politics ihere
i s a' broad associ ' ati on of di sci pl i nes, i nternati onal rel ati ons
bei ng the m6st val ftp..Neverthel ess, i nternati onal
relair'ons are explicitly not taken into .rccorrni in thls sun'ey, as in Romania they tdnd 0c form, in terms of research
;;;;;;;;i i ;i t.J' "1' i ".,i "es a sel f-suf{i ci ent and sepai ate subdi sci pl i ne'
'
,' ' -
:
Giovanni SARTOhL -From
ihe Sociology of Politics
to Political Sociology"r.in: Seymour M. LIPSET
(ed,),
-
Politics and Socra/ Screnccs, Oxford Universiiy Press, NEiv York, 1969, pp. 6F100.
ffen'isn nomltnl de
gtiinll
Politictr
"
Vol,ll
"
Nr.t
i-2002
Fron
the
polirics
of science
t0 rrle
sciencc
of Poritic.s
cerniufi'
as a fcrmer Auslria'*
F,igirer-educaLjo'
instittrtiorr,
inheriteci
a pol.itical
scien, chair
held bv Alex-andru
nupo.olteot.
r;;;;;tl;;"i' ",-,.1
una' ailing.schoiar
rvrro cric in the
micl' /0s rvith no scit"itd;t":terity.
rn 79z4,trre
schoor
of Ljw at trre
[J.ivers ry
of Bucharest
creaied
a doctoral
degre' e
i,r "poriticar
ancl eco.,Ji.,,i.
sc.ierrces,,
aftr a hvo-year
curriculum'
As late as 1958.
a; In;;;.;r.
of rnoral
arLd pc_rlitical
scienct *'as
created rvithin
that schooiof
Law
il ;;;;;i;
ir:ouia.
a^ instiruri.nar
r,ramervor
for thePhD
larvstudents
with
un n.ua.*t;l;iilit,..
porirics.
The
app,o
,
.6
to poiitir ih this Institute
rvas merely
a regar
"r.,
;;ili;.;i"r:;".. Derng
si"r-rcii*ii ,,,r
,he
scienc of the state' very
much i*the
,iu,*.,
ii rvas
-
";;
sometimes
stili is -- rr .acrieo,t i
rrre French Facurrcs
cre Droit.
Lyi.'o*,
ir.... i"rii"re
did ,.,oa 1,,;;i;,.ri:H::;,1
i conkibute
to ihe birth
of political
icience;;' ;;;;e' ric
clisciprine
as ir rr,,as crose
'
dorvn
in the early'40,
butit is rvorthL
m;;il;.;
;liuur.
Grrira
tonescu,
r, liror
of ti.r BriiishJournal
Governm
ent atd
oppoiiiiil",;firfig"ished
sc rrorar
of i:or,rrnunisr
and of the poritical
process
of European
integration,
was educatecr
trr,", e.
one of the reasons
for thjs preiarious
i":fiilii""al
set-up
of poliii..al _:cie^ce i:
Fl!?fiT:fr'jfr:Til"#fi
$,:rfi
',ilr;lyi;,';fi?fstJ*liiJ:::x,:::
founder
and mastermind
of Romani;
,;;ioi;;i
;o chair
or rhe o";:f,:?T::::
Institute'
sociology
should
ha"e be-en,
and
actr-iaiiy
,uu,
considereci
fo
rrav,-:
becom, the complete
- b6[h
normative
*g-a3*tiiii:J"t"nce
of the n;,li,,rL,
wrrich
courc answer
arl the quesrions
raised.by
the
s'o.iul,
"."""-i.^;;';:r;
tlcar life of thr
i"ffi
ffirTl::*"mro9:::-*tri*il}'ier:s1,';i,.'ff:ilT:#
'
the field
of an inciusiv"
ro.ruir.i"r.,.*,rr,a.rrtooa
;"0
o?J.tol".?i:3;,i,:;.":"*i;:ili::
of the rration. In this sefting,
"uu":-:?Tspi..rous
poiiri.ut
object
fi_]. u poiitjc; 1 parties
received
a philosophical-siciolo.lc.al
treafment3i
lg.orur1t
ol lnd incijrfere
rt to the $'el1-stablishe
d in tern a tio n al p oiitical
r J."..'ii
i"r?,rru
o f th a t ti,',-, e.
This parricular
brand
of sociology.
;t{d;ng
and irrqiu,.ing
he narional community
as a'. undividable
strucfurl,
u"a ir"r.iurorJuninteres^teci
irii,,rd a'oidhg
t he sh*dy
of cl eavages
and conf l i ct s,
; r; ;
t ; ; i i sput ea
precl ci -, i i i , ri .
i : i t i -re rna.rsiream
inteilectual
traciiio.mat.h"l.d;;;";;;-r",,social
qu.rstir,;i,
. I .:.[ore and afterWorld
War I, j.!-was
incun-rbent
o.r.,,*1.*u1*
ito*ur.,iar,
sodal
rhirrker i I adclress the trv+ford
issue"dl
an agraria.-11.1:tJ
;I;ilqi;'."i.,.tur.t
tc g^, : bi, ih t , a viabre
domesticbourgeois
middie class'
coasiantin-Dob' rogeanu-Ghcrea
Co' st.,,Ltin stere.
Constanrin
Rlcl'ulescu_Mo
hu,
g
tefan
31:C,
i#;"\i;*"a, Ir4il-,
J l,a'.,
i!
ff
?l:L:i
Madgearu'
Lucrefiu
Pitrigcanu,
and
Dimiiti"
c"r,ii:1,s5rr
exploreci
ihrs
quesnon, and ib political
consequences,
along
differentli-,""r"u..,
perspe(
ii\,,:
r.arrgi' g
arl the rvay
from or tho d oi and re vision"is
il,,ru.*lr*
i-oycorpora
ti srn.
As politically
incorrect
as it may
seem
today,
Mihail
Ma.oi.lescll r,{iac .r.o
-.^_
communisr
Romanian
poriticai
autrror
t"lro
";t;i;;'l-,.
rviclest
ur;, i ,r.,JIi: *"":::
*t-X31d
reputation'
Not only was.hethe
rFa'drirg
E,-,.opu*
rheorisl
"ii,t
'o;lll'Jl?
rn the very age
of corporatism{,tut
also
his
t-ni"tirifir
considr.red i.
h;,ve
r
r-ovided
I
His writinss
lvere e!' entuall;' collected
and editedby
his family:
Rontania
palitice.
Doctrini, i
jei,
figuri
r907-I9zs (The
Foriticar Romania.'Diirrri,",-r.lror"n
a cr,irirturl'i'i'fi-lszsl,Buo:16ri.
:
r2.
2
crrra roNESCU,s
main book
_
dJ" ,,y."rl:l
n;;;;:
i;;;-tga.z,
o*r*Jur,i,,u,..ity pre
,:,,
London,
::?;Ji#-f'.tJffiifffffiT
f,"mm::'t"',
wu;a."i.rJ.rd
Nj.h"r.:",
Lonijon,
ii,,si-1," b,,,r, narrafi'e
;;,h;;i ;;i ;i i i 5."r.n acadenri c ur.L*ror;,l t.,tnl fi nE-
of hi sto?i cal devel opnre;;;;
;;;-r";), r,,,
:ourd not
Ri"sa"-,
i,.;i"l
t. ai,Li* i;;;d?,T;,h[;l,T;:t
,?,j'..3,r.t9[:X1{i?":[,';::,,.:;
,,,1:
,,;
jl,".y":
itj
tigh!-:uTq:gthorirarian
and antj-Seml;;;";i"l".
-;
t
I
P' P' NEGULESC1J,
Parti dete pol i r;i (Fi t..,i oti i !.yt.na1ri es),
i nsti tutur
soci al
Roni n,
B,
,
r-,rr s
,.
1926.
:rrihdrrrAf,ronescu,
D$c:;zsei;;ii' ^tip"i;iiJ#;,.L,,b;;:r,veucnRes,mesror,:
,n.., 1i_,, re.r.
Frorn
the Politics oi scrcnce
t0 tllc )clcncc 0I l' 0tlllt\
r".ener.rlolientation
and
proviclirrg.casual
celrsorship
to clirect itu' olvet"rretrt
in researcl' t
poti ci es,
Progral l l s,
pl ai :i ;i ' ;:i g,
i (i oi s' ri i ci i ;' ;' :l s a;l -i i i :e:-' ::'
These .l.,or",g*,
i,-,
,f.'u
foii,i.t
oi scier-tce mirrorecl
in scaie and sc-ope
a critical aird
' rajor
transfo' ' atior"t
of
ti.r. official science of.pr,olitics' .I.deetl,
i. the late' 60 a.d i^
the early,70,
the tuo".hingof
the
$tefa.
Gheorgliitr
Acaclemy-
\vas
' Io
lt' t9f
embeddeci
in ortlrodox
tvtorxism-lE,'ri,'tltt't,
and prgmirient
figures of the early "scie^tific
so-
cia'ism,,,
as Raclu;i;;;;i;tt
'ruch
of th"it influJ^ce.
As the Party itself changed
its methods
of soJal
mobilizatio.,
or' ,.1inclusiorr,
the official
ic-leology coined
at the
;;;;;;;;;"t
r;."i";
nrore
concerned
rvith developme.t
issues'
economic
rna*gement,
an*tec*ologicai
revo.lutio^'
Hon' to escap- L"' ackivardness
and esta-
blish
a mociern
".orffi
t"u?=
the topics
adclresse.{ by theoreticiarrs
like Mircea
Malila
ancl N{ihai
Botez,
rvho never
questioned
the politicai-rnonopoly:f
tl-re Party' even
rvrren they tr:rrrea
ir-,to airridents,
as Botez eventuaily cli-d. In iact, for this line of thin-
kt";-,;i.,i.n
!,urutas
the C6inese
pragn' ILtisrn.of
the' 80 and' 90 -- poLitics
was .ot
' ierr,ed
as being
oirt,"
essence.
polilicsiealry
existgcl o.ry i^ trre form of good policies
of economic
growih
and social
improvement.
This new scientific
course
rougl' ily
.oi.1Caur
rvitir a sl-rort yeriod
of pclitical
de-Stalinization'
There lvere, hou,ever,
some
outstanding
authors-to emerge
from' .if
not against
this backgrour.rd.
;;;;
i;;;;,
the most inflluential of rrrem inlernrs of the discipline
,turned
out to be Vladimir"Tiu*ul1uunu'
Unsurprisingly,
he started
in Romania
aS a
liberal
stud,ent
"f
;;t;:M;rxism1,
to laterbecome, onie reborn
as a American
poiiti-
cal scientist,
a sc)rolar
of civil society
in Centrai and Easterl
!ur9ee2'
Td
1
stern critic
of anti-liberui
u'd raclical
intelleciual
and political trends in the region:'
In the
'90
he served.
as a role rnoder
and
a mentor,for^many
Rornanian poiitical
scie^tists.
The
second
to aus"-e
u rf..iur
mention
is
paVel
cdrnpeam,
u .orn''runist
rnilitant
in his
early stages
.ul-
"rroived
into a significant
stuclent of Stalinism4,
and, in the late
'80'
rt,as the Ronranian
voice in the ,.r]]i.turc
open by the Ner,v school of social
Research
in Nerv York to prominent
clissidents
from Central and Eastefir Europe'
T6ree orher;;;;:L"1ars,
alihough
not poiitical scientists
by tr-aining
or vocaiion'
bordered ," ,h":illy
o1porii.r.
ThJfirst tivo of thern \\,ere confessed
and rnnova-
ti'e ,.'r,larxistS,
tlte tiiir.i a iescluiie
anF,-cor';i:'r':-nist'
Henri H' Stahl'
tl-re re'e;ed
prorynSnt
of non.or-,ian
social
history
and of the national sociological
traditicn'
had
an onglna,
"u,.,il"
f6u t' iurxist
theory of the modes of- productions'
Zigu Ornea'
a
iiterary historian,
fubstantiatecl
some of tL' ,u major trendi of Romanian
political
and
social
tninfi',gr.
lurtly,
tf,u historian
Vlad. Georgescu
not only published
in'"aluable
quantitative
studies
o"' t trtu framing glth: ou.uiij,sn1e
and' Jre evolution
of Roma-
nian political
ideasl
but, as an emifrO,
he headed the Romanian
department
of Radio
Free Europe.
r
\.adimir TISN,IANEANU,
Arou.r sf,ngS,s
i
$coala
cIe Ia FranlJuri
(Tfie A' erv Left and the Fra:' k' furt
SchooD'
Editr:ra Politici,
Buclre;ii. 1976'
:\,' ladimirT1SN{ANEAT\U, RententingPoi' jdcs-EaslemEuropfromstalittollavel' FreePress' NewYork' 1991'
r
IDE*{, Fanfasjes
"f
i)t"rlir-i"r.
i"^3rrrr,r,N' aricrra/i-sm,
' t,..a
Vytl' t in Post-Communist
Europe'
Princeion
Uni vesi n Press, Prj ncei on,
Nj , 199S'
{ pav;l
cAMpge,Nr,i' irrJil"g
ins of stalinisn.
Fron' t Leninist Revolution to Stalirtist sociefv, ir' 1 8' sharpe'
"*l*Jk l?|fli, t-nut onal Rontat.tia'
tii,lage conrnrunitjes:
TrSe Tran-..ftio n from the Contmunal
to the
capira{isr tutode af
prod;;;;;
;;
'tlri
oilu're
n9fion, Cambridge universitY Press, cambridge,
1979'
-
6E.g.AguoRr,\EA,
fZri ;i ^ri .s,"Ji rsoa.:t"gi r(i ,l ruri u-i i tn,.ASoai l ogi cal Approachi ,Edi h-rraPol i ti ci '
u"*rTr:'otTSoRCEScu,
Irolitical
lLleas anri tfie Err/:'gfireru:re-'f
i.h,tJre,R omaiian Principalirie.s,
Colunrl'ia
universitr
press,
Nerv
yiire
ii)tl"iitirt"
iarilr^piiifrJ"
romar,egti
(1s6s-ts7s) (The Histo-ry of the Romanjan
l ' d;;;;Ii i ""t}
i on Durl i trrr
Verl ag' l r{i i nchen'
19E7'
lionn.rri'.tn tlo[ticd
Scicrtcc
ileljcrv
-\'ol'il
'
l]'I
"
2002
2i6
u.' \l\lJjL Dlll\rru
the icleoiagical
franrervork
for
the' Brazilian
Esta<{o
}Jov9 ancl
its subsequent
autho-
r i t ar i ani r t canr at i ons. Hi spol i t i cai . "o' ' o*yi sappai ent l yst i l l i t r usei nsonr eSor t t i r
r\merican
universities.
Aibeit
ur',
".o'to"**
U/it'^i"i"g'ancl
i*tent'
Manoilescu
de-'
veloped
an articulate
theory
of purtyotJi"
"tu'io'''t
in a t"otalitariarr
regime'
enrbedcled
i. eitensive
first-rrand
observatio.nr.
wri.*iore,
r'ris unuryrir-.Jisti"g'"isl',ecl
betweer?
German,
Italian,
an. Soviel
versions
"i'i"itii"tianism'
in that
thJfirst
was
a dual
political systenr,
rvith powe"
tq"uily
lilttJf'y
the staielureauiracy
and the party
elite,
the second
a staie
using
the.pariy
for
its own purPoses,
a*d the third
a state
utterlv;:#iHllJr*":ilJ;a1
table
as accurate
as possibre,
it should.
be. remarked
tl.rat,
despite
this i*stitutionul
monopory
or tucurst"aits
and the intellecfural
emirrence
of sociology,
prof.,
".j
vd.ruUle^empirical
research
in political
science
has
been
ueverthelerr
rr,.,aurtut"n,
in the,ao
u.il+0,
uy r.r.t'r.u"thors
as I'Iarcel
Ivan
and Mattei
Dogan,
mainly
ir,-th"
ui"u of electorai i*iitip"tion
and'
partl' -performance'
A dis-
iineuished
staristician,
Ivan
p.rUfishui
"fi.1t;
;;1lut.t' ltu"i'
tf thu electoral
con-
,.i,.rIt of ttre politi#;;'.il;[i.t.t
in the iftermath
of Worli War 11' After
having
authored
a comprehensive
analysis
"itht
interwar
Romanian
politics2
' {attei
Dogan
left Roma*iu
to ueJoo,e
"r-,
orrtstu"di"g;;;;:i
o:. French
poli-tical
sociology3'
u^for-
hrnatell',
this type
of empirical
'u'u?'j-"
*ntn
tried'
to crossbreed
statistics
and socio-
l oqy,bndl VaSasci osetofonnal pol i ti cal sci enceapproachesasi tgets,hadnofol l ow
,tliitrnt*utiu- tablished
-Immedi atel yafterthecommuni sttake-over' apol i ti cal school wases
ir.r order
to
",.rrr.u:tirri
the ideologiJ*"ttol,1ater
the monopoly
of the party
over
the social
sciences.
Created.
in 1945
; th; P;;ry's
training
unii foi its own
ranl<
and
file under
ihe name
of The
$tef.n
Cheotglti";t'"aemy
foriraining
and Advancement
of the Leadershii-ioar",
of th* Cu.,tr"J"Co'o*ittuu
o? thu Romanian
Communist
Par-
ty, ihe irrstitution;;.;;.;igne-d
as
""
ia-"r"gicai
training
center for Party
activists
a*d state
bureaucraLs.
several
,yp",
"r
CrrriC"la
vt'ere'o"ffered'.
sirort-term
studies
(usual_tr1,'i* *or,ili*"r"
r"r"na.a
rot all party
members
selected
for various
resPon-
sibilities
either
in ihe Party
uppu'ut'-'l';;i
t]tJO:O]t:.?ifustration'
N4ore
thorough
post-graduate
stuJies,
incr,,railga.doctorate,
were offered
io those
rvho had
chosen
to becorne
themselves
ideologilai
t*-i".tt
ror the Partv'
journutrjl?^ot
merely
scien-
tific socialism
irstructors
foihigft"t
"i"tttion
instih-:'titns'
I^\g5g'
an institute
of
econornic
management
was
uttucheJtJ
tnt r"tti'Academy
in order
to pro'ide
profes-
sional
**p"rtirJt-o^i1'"'.r".r
executive
officers
of the public sector
economy'
one year r".""r,
, a."i""y
{;;lli;i ""a
soaul
sti".tt"t'tvas
estab[shed
under
rhe authority
of the
propagand" D;i;i;"
of the Cenkal
committee'
The scope
of the
instituiion
rvas
to explore,
i. th"
*uil.;iih:
"mini-culiural
revolution"
of 7971'
the
procedureu
to Uif-Jio*"l
i"
"raer
to translate
an untidy ideological
control
into
a
iiehtun
scientific
monopoll''
The mission
was accomplisiied'
in 7975'
when
the nerv
,\*cademyheld
srvay
over
aii-restJi;t;;tes
inhistoryil"lJ-P.T:":*I'sociology'
art ldstory,
-";';e;
'"ti"r "it"ttir"'*i:::lf*l"idinate
to the old Romanian
Acaderny.
That' ivay,
the official
poliiics
of sociai
sciences
shifted
from
supplying
1
i
I
i
r
h{arcel IVAN,
Evoluf
ia partide}or
naastre
politice
1919-1932(The
Evolutu'o
n of our-Political
parties
1919-
' a;^
n' imaAja
(A
Statistical
Analysis
of
't']'f;:ijl'5L}Tft
,"ii;,,."statisrici
a-"d.emocratiei
partantentare""din
R{merta lA
statisticat
A
Romtnian"parliamenrarl'i;:':;';:';1**:T
':'"'"'*1y:tnli?:mj'y"'l;t::f'iittfii:;
r*:';:r,:1lpzi(E:fri,''#i'i#i
jiijr;rkdEtiru*ritru:H;':',liff.;j'3tu'#
n,.,,f
,#1R',
ffiit""""#iiT;'f
';ni;'
i;
^
r
"'
' -fliomp
ara tiv e Poli tics, Cha tam
!'louse,'Chatam,
NJ' i990'
-
Rcrtsn Ronriinr rle Sriint'l Politictr'
n
Vol'lI
'
lir'1
'
2002
Be it as it nray, ihese authors
did rrot tone trp the llomanian intellectual
land-
scapev frar in the iaie'70 anr-l during
the '80, the sociil scieuces saggecl-under th.e rveigirt
of i hegemonic naticnal communism.
The stage, as far as the studl' of politics rvas
.orr"*rri"d, belonged to theoreticians
disposed to ground.their interi:retatior-r
of social
alcl political life n"o more fur classical
lvlarxis.t theory or in the-crititlue of backwardr;ess,
but in the lvorks of Nicolae Ceaugescu,
the unchallenged leader of the Romanian
Cornnrunist Pariy. For them, politics
did not exist but uuder thg shap-e of thenational
irrterestof Romuniu. The leading
character of this cast rvas undotrbtedly Ovidiu T16'z-
'ea,
chairnran of tire exclusive,IParty-members-only,
R-omanian Association
of Poli-
tical Science set up in 1968, and, as such, the official political scientist of the regimei.
Nohr,ithstattiitrs
this evoltrtion,
the' different
interpretations of politics under
communism share th' e common
belief that social life cannot be explained in political
terms. Therefore, a political science
rvould have no reason to exist. Its task, whatever
that may have beei was far better, accomplished
by.other sciences, economy in the
first place- My argument is that such a belief is cbmpelled io use a rhetorical structure
that ?inaily lends-itself to
justifiTing the very presumptions it professes to deny: the
,rutonorn/ of poiitics and ihe tegitimacy
of a science of politics. None of the diiferent
i.teilectual shupes assumed lrl'"tt'r. Romanian
scjentific sociaiism
(orthodox, Uberal,
clevelopmental, nationalist) could noi or would not evade their Leninist outset and
ttre circular reasoning of a revolutionary
type it brings along. A sor"rnd Marxist assumP-
tion indicates that
$Uti.r
is closely tiia to and dependent up-on class structures
and
econonric relatio#- O11this u..or-rr"rt,
politics should be a hollorv ground in the face
"i
t"o*f*Age. Nevertheless, Leninis*
isstt*"d,,*d
i"aT{ proved, tha!
fo]i$cs
might
in fact inv&t class skuctuies
and economic
relations. Where is then in this setting,
the place of political science?
Under state socialisrn, the science of politics equates
poli'tical aAion itself. Its
\older
is the government,
and ihe
Sovernment
alone. Poiitical
icience rgould. therefore be the self-consciousness
of the government, a government
tfiai does act, in a Marxist terminology,
not on]y in itseif, but also for itself. Politicai
science u,as subsequently the study oi Party policies- and Party Ianguage, inasmuch
as they try to respond to the people' s scientific
validated wants. As a consequence,
tl-tu.*a*rnncling of politics^in
Rornania
before 1989 lvas not orLly rvants-oriented,
rat her t hen ri qht s: ent enched, but al so verged on a
Perverse
f orm of publ i c droi ce
*' r . .
^' o^' ' "
theorr. Curiorlsly, if not ominously,
this is the major lesson post-communist poiitical
scieni' e has leamed from scientific
sociaiism'
Eietaeen, Politics attd Scientce:
the In'stitutional Franwtaork
If a unified parad.igm is needed in order to give rise to a scientific disciplind,
it
is
gnquestionabli
drat sirch a broad inteilectual
construct, based on a series of common
observations
and. shared assumptions,
does not exist in Romanian academia as far
as po.ljtical science is concerned. On the contrary, Rgmanian social scientists seem to
follow atleast trvo separate, and contending,
sets of instructions as to.where to look
for the appropriate explanatiors of what poliiics is, Andthey q.o so in a rather intuitive
rvay. They *or," instinctively
rvithin disconnected "disciplinary.matrixes",
to use
Kuhn' s rvords, according noionly
to the intellectual experiences they rvent through
;
. . ,
r
lon CETERCHI, Ovidiu TRAZNEA,
Corneliu
VLAD, The Political Sygtem ot tr,e >octallsr xepublic
of
Romani a,Edi tura Sti i nl i fi cl
5i
Enci cl opedi ci ,
Bucuregti , 1979'
-.
_
2
Ttronras S. KUHN; fntitirt"o Lf kientific Revo/utr'ons,
Chicago Universify Piess, Chicago, 7962' pp-1U73'
R$isrr Rontin'lde
$tijnli
Poljticl
"
Vol.ll
o y1.l o
!-OQJ
rl
:
I
T
t
i
t rom u}9 r0ul i t )
u' t JLl vl l LU ! U I ' ri u
vvrvrrvu vr
^
vrruvv
before 19g9,
but
also to their
clifferent unc{erstarrrlirrg
of horv
and rvhy
scientific
, **i ' , , . , , l ou1"i r e, ' , 1-
, - . i ; . -
' . f , ' . :
I ' , , : - . , 1i . ' ' - : l ' : l : i i ' l
' . "' ,
l : t r - i sca' l l l l
' - - ^
r ' 1r . cnnt r t ar r eol t s
paradigrns
post-frf^Xist-LefinisLanci
rleo-WcL' ciiittt,
beari.g i*.riird
tirai tliey a' e
rrot to be i*terpr.il;;
tire
evidence
of a fuliy.awa' e opera-tio*
of theorerical
anci
;."dJ;;;tJdd.:R;;i.i,
th.se paractigms
l',ave recrluited
the."rselves
their pro-
ponents, for most oitt" no*unian
politicaiscie^tists
qualify
as
"t-lnconscior-rs
thi.-
tl,,;fip;i,J;t
theoretical
unawaieness,
who react toihe d;ange
in poiitical
regime
and to the expansio,.,
"r
a."1ocratic
politics by spontaneously
resorting
to
"couceptual
,l"ti:"*;';,'th;y;;;;fi;;in
trrgir old meihocls ancl language
so as to cover a Lrroa-
der and far more dj.rrerse
array
or political
issues tl-ran the ones
they \^rere used to
tackle a decade
before.
The first stream
cuts
across
variotls scientific coutexts
and methodological
assumpiior-,,
ir, orJu, *
"aop,
an all-incrusive
qu-antitative
idiom for lr']ricl-r pclitics
is a dep.,rdent
variable
thai iests upon the o'erriding problen'r
of acquisitio.,
as con-
ceivedby
Marx.
This is tantamounf
to s'aying-that
eco-nbmic rerationships
and relative
scarcity.o**u.rd-rlr-u
.onfig*utiott
of p"U'tic interests as exPressed
in the political
arpna- Consequently,
pro-perty
orvnership,
deprivation, immiseratiorr'
party
cotn-
petitionfor the con6l
bf tf,u rrteans
of prod-uction and the appropriaho.
of the voter's
iott lo*ttess
become
ihe linchpins
of politics
The secona
p"r"aig* puils
severai
intellectual threacls
together
to,convey
the
overail
idea. of frufr"r#t
d"escent,
that the collapse of cornmunism
and the social
demnsiruction
iihe;;a
should
be experienced-as an opportunit{l9l
establishing
;;;il;
bo.d, if not a
leq
social
iontract
(vergesells chaftung)'.
Hence,
politics
is held.
"r
u ,utiorrafirutio"
of public-conducts
withiria system of
-rneanings
(Sinnzu-
santm",thdng"l,
,;ilil
e;; i^ r.r.h categories of belieis_ar
1:qll1ll,^,hu
dernvs-
tification of urrthority,
thu prodtrAlon
of a"nd. conformity to norms,
or the function
of
the market.
'
And if that is the case, if indeed
there are apparentiy-ir."-o.rva.ys
of erplaining
rvhar plitics
i,
"11
;;;;it,
ti-r"tt it foliorvs
that Roiinian ptttical
s;cience,
as a nervly
born acade*i.
ii"ra oi study
and research, had no rear intellectual
opport' nity
to
;;;;;;;;
."f r-i.",
and seu-sustained
discipline. For the dialectics
of continuitl'
versus change
;; ;;it r^arkecl
ifre evcluiion oi p.rraclig' rs,
b' ' ri also largel,v
.o**rr-ta"d,ihe
process of institutionalization
of political science'
.,
Even if d"*5;r;;
r"p.tr.a"cl
state socialisni ciuite unexp.ectedly,.the
d*' eilers
of sientifi.
,o.iair*L
itr developmental-nationuiist
Ronlunian
version
rvere not
caughi
uy ,r-rrp$".
r.iJ t-f."t t1tey.h'uve
foreseen the event, but for they rveie'
befoie
any',.hing
utru, u*f,"J
i.,', tne
Politi.o
of social sciences' Therefore,
they changed
their
vocabulary,
*ith5"i*.*t"ppi"9$uk
tinderstanding of polid?to*
its Leninist
core'
and, most of all, lvithout
reshuffling
their persorur.j. O"iai" TrXznea
rvas naturally
reelected
to cl-rair tt. no*ut.lan
Asiociation of Political Science3,
rvhile
I:t
it":9:.i
;;li;;g";,
(v";ii;;;ire9,
Vlaclimir
pasfi,
Cornel Codi56, Ioan ]r{ircea
Pagcu,
I'atir
Dobrescr:)
immed-iately
went
to sen'e as ad.visors to the post-commuuist
president
and to the National
salvationFroniieadership,
while eng;leerin'
S" :"t"ival
of the
par'
e.ua"*y:.
iir"y ?"11;;""d
spontaneo..sly
*,hat rnigit be ca1led a logic
of appro-
r
Iborrorv
these notions
and their meaning
from_Gio'anni sARToRI, "Con-cePt lvlisformation
irr Comparalrve
f,.ii,i*-,
A, a
^,uriro,
Political
Science
Rer':gY'
LXIV' no' 4' 1970' pp' i033-1053'
r
In approximoting
tr..'J'r*.o"iur;;tg*t;i
hov"
(oilo',,uui
the-iy'sienratization
of Andrerv
c'
JANOS'
Politics
andpara,Jtsnts.Chongirg-ThJiriifin*grin*Sooalgcience-',
Sia.[orcl Uni'ersitv Press' Stanford'
Calif" 1955'
3To
&L day, the n..r"i *' trbci ati oi -of
Poi i ti cal sci ence i s a l i vi ng dead, that i s i t does nomi nal l y
exi st'
but i t has no acri vi ty.
* ,#i ,
"
sr;r;.;
G;r
i acul tv and sruddnts from-rhe Department of
pol i ti car
sci ence
at
;:iliffiri;?;J;i;;,
siort?a
rheiri*'
professi6nal associatioir, The Romanian societv
of Politicai
science'
R:nrenirn
Poltical
Science
Revierv
o
\'6!'![
c'
!]'i
o
l(Jg.2
priateness, as opposed to a logic of conseqtrence,
rvhich rvould have nafurally elimilate
il.r.,r'r from t'h,iprublic squari.
As a group,
they
_did
noj s.se rleir.rocracy as a raclical
political.or' ,r*q,r.r,ce of ihe comrnunist collapse.
Instead, tirey were ready to einbrace
i kirrd of "state Cemocracy"
as an appropriate
instrument to carry on the economic
ar-rci social wants thatstate socialism fiiled
to fulfill. The collapse of communismelid
lot even root out automatically
all institutions
linked to Marxism-Leninism
and
scierrtific socialism. They simply reshaped.themselves,
taking uP-uew names and
embarking on ltetv missions,
but not ch.anging
their frame of mind.
The
$Iefan
Gheorghiu Academy of the Central Committee of tl're Rotnanian Com-
rluuist Party is perhaps the major institution,
ali-the public-organization conside-
red, thathai suri' ivedilmost
unimpaired
the breakdorvh of the communist regime.
In order to lvash a\^ray tireir previous commitment
to scientific sociaiism, iis teadring
staff sought first to
join the University of Bucharest..Br-rt they soon came.to understand
that ther-! rvoulcl bi no Sltuldfragedebate
to question their past, and that they could
afford to stancl up again us un inJluential
grbup. Thus, irr the fall of 1991, the
goyerunent clecided io refinance
ihe former Academy
ry
a
gublic
institutiol, undet
il-,. rlo**
"The National school of Political Studies and Pr-rblic Aclministratlon".
Fot
all inienis and. purposes, this instihr_tion,
presided over by Vasiie Se:dleg,
the last
secretary of the Communist
cell of the Party Academy,-and Ovidiu TrXznea, chair
of Deparhnent of Political Science until 1996, prese_rved t!" goil and structu.re/
as
well as most of the faculty of the former Party Academy. Even the institute created
in the late'60s to provide managementskills
t9 the hjgl.officials
9f
t\e socialist
econoqy continued to be associaled with the
"National School" under the label of
IROMA
ffhe
Romanian Instituie of Management).
A two years general training in
international relations, and public administration and policies rv4s offered to
cancliclates of different aqademic
backgrounds
in order to enable thern to get civil
servanrc positions. It is on-ly in 1995 thai the National Schoo1 of Politicai and Admi-
nisti.atii,e Siudies started io orgarjze
undergr.rduate
sh:' fies ir-r poli6cal science,
P99ti!
administration, and
journalish. Since 7998, a one-year graduate
Program
is added
eyery foll, the specialhes covered being gender studies, d-evelopanent and.goverrlance/
iirternalional relations, and. politicai anthropology.
The School has now three Depart-
melts: Political Sciences
(ch,aired by a forrner editor of the Communist Party' s olvn
rrrrbl i shi ns' house), Pubi i c Admi ni st rat i on
and
] oumal i sm
(headed by t he l ast
r
*- ^' "' *' o
iecretary 5f th" Communist cell of the Parfy' s official newspaper), and-is cr:.rrently
i rr i he pi oc"rs of est abl i shi ng t rvo nerv depart ment s, of soci o)ogy
T+
of economi cs.
Ndeanrvl-Lile, the Univerilty of Buchaiest,
after having rejected the survivors of
the Pady Academy, decicled to foster its orvn?-rogram-of training and research in
r-rollical science. At first, betrveen 1991 and 1994, the department assigned to this
nrission was nrade in the same mould
as a French Institut d'Etudes Politiques and
rvas largeiy sponsored by the Agence
(Jniversitait'e
Francoph2ne-(AuF),.This
inter-
nationisupport explains rvhy political science was first_taught in_French and why
its roots lay mostli' itt Eutop.inand
legal studies-
1n{
poliiical philosophy,
and less
i1 formal iesearchr. As of t995, the Department of Political Science rvas restruchrred
rvirh the aim of developing three direitions of undergraduate sfudy in th3 major of
poiiiicat science: political science, iniemational
relations and public policies. Ever since,
ifie meti-lodological groundrvork of the curricula is commanded by a variefy
-o_f
theoreiical and Jmpirical orientations,
whidr tends to be increasingly "Americanized"'
As a crrn-seqllence, and in order to make this diversity o.f apprpl.h"t
Tgte
transparent,
the teacfiing languages of the department
are English, Fiench)-and Ron+airian. The
Graduate Sihoot of d-re Departrnent orga:rizes
tlvo
),ears
pro$rams for master degrees
i1 poiitical science, internatiorral
relabions, and public poliCe' s, as weli as doctoral
-
Revisla Romtuif de
$tiifla
Pol.itica
o
Vol.ll.r Nr.l
.-2002
r i ' urr. i . i rC l t i ; ri l l l
il:rieni:n-PoliticdScierrce
Ile',icil'o
Yol.ll
'
Ilrl
'
2002
st udi esi : r pol i l . - , . i . t
t ' ' "1 . ' i l : r . )
11' r ' l ' ' ' r t ' , t ' 6' "- ' ' , , 1' r f l 1) , cl r r r Ll sal r r r r ct ql l ' . 1
1] r r . ; l : sal d
under gr adl at en; : , r r , ; : . : , .
- , - ' . i : : i
- .
*i - , i : ! i : ; , , - ;
i : h: t mat l t r Lr i : - , . . i oi ' ' 1y, t hi : l l : ' 5eSt
i nsti tqti on to serve
i l re di sci pl i ne. Forei gn sl trdents (from France, Srveden,
the Uni -
ted States, Swi.tzerland,Itaiy,
Austria,
Lebanon, Turkey, Tttuisia, Iraq, Aiba:ria, Came-
roon Co"go, the Dernocrati c
Republ i c. gf
.Co.nq.o,.
Gui nea, anc{ N' l oi dova)frePl esent
at momenis tO% ofthis
population,
rvhich is delirritely urlusual for Romanian-high.er
education institutiont
li tt'tu field of social sciences, and tends to confirm that the
Department has acquired a fair international reputaiiorr. Todal' , most of the regular
t.fu,y ;n,t".r hjve af least one degree in a European lJuiversity,.aud
are either
,".*iLd from research
institutes
or selected among
]ioung
gradnates, Iu fact, tl-re first
seneration
of Romanians
to hold a regular BA degree in poiitical science graclr-rated
From the University
of Bucharest
in 1995'
The next geneiation ,
of.1996,
was trained in the secoud largest Ilomanian tini-
versity, the Uiiversity
Babeg-Bolyai
of Cluj-Napoca,_which started its ou' n chair of
poli6iai science
rvithin the Department
of History in1992, and reorganized
it in i995
as an autonomous Deparrment
of Poiiiical Science and Public Administration.
This
.,.rBS
i cntical
juncture for the history of
lhe
teaching of po.litical-scie,nc.e.in
CIui, as
the Deparhneni
gradually
distance-d
itself from ihe pre-19S9 chair of scientific
socialism
in whih it was originaliy
gro,rnd.ed,
and extricatbd itself from the chairmansidpcf
the survivors of t Jtiottui-iommunism.
Cluj was privileged to rnature as part of a
partrsship networlg
funded
by the Iniernational Research and Exchanges
Board
lmplq
"f
fiashingtonD arvhigtrfcluded.mostly
political sience deparbments from
Arnerican.rniversities.
Today, led by Vasile
goaii,
the Department develops - both
at t1p
'ndergraduate
and graduate
levels - three directions of studies: political science,
publJc admiijstration,
anf,ioumalism.
The teaching is given in Romanian
except for
a section of
journalism in Hungarian'
Finajly, in \996, *teUniveriify.of
Iagi created an MA programin political scjence
rvi t hi n t hebepart ment
of phi l osophy
and soci al sci euces, mai nl y devot eC t o pol i t i cal
t heory. Chal ri d by Ant on Carpi ni chi ,
t he program devel oped el ' ent i ral l y
al so at t he
' ndJgraduate
le' vel, and is very acfive in.promoting the adt' ancement of th.e dis-
cinlinp*in ie tr,,loldavian
regionai
setlinq. Also, a small Politicai Science Section
u' as
es, t -: hl i she, t i n 199S a. l t hrr
{-I ni ve' rsi t y i ' l : Or; : dea' The same year, a pol i t i cal sci ence
progmn started
tvithiri the Larv and Public Administration Dgpartment
of the Uni-
i,n#ty l-ucian Biaga of Sibiu,
arrd a_Departmen^t of Political Science and Comnu-
nication.uu, org*Izecl
at the West Universitl' of Timigoara. These institutions
have
so far ferv faculty members
and a limited number of students.
I' . should be added tftat several
other DeparLmenis, n' hich are not offering
rnajor.s
or degrees in political science,
claim a particular interest in tl-Lis discipline. Three such
.ou"#r" ,*orih being listed, First andforeinost, the Chair of Politology rvhich is stiil
ir, fur-r.tlor-, rvithin tiie Polytechnic
University of Bucharest, as a iegacy of the chair
of scientific socialism,
rvhich
was on duty before 1989 as in ail other Roma:-Lian
universities- Indeed, scierrtific
socialism, political economy and, since the early' E0,
a fictitious discipline
calleci
"fundanreutai problems of the history of the Fatherland
ancl of the Party; rvere mandatory
courses in all higher educalion insii.tutions. Tocial' ,
ihe junior undergraduates
in teihnicai sciences are still offered general courscs il
politics by instruc"tors
tvith some
teaclilrg experience in Mardsm-Leninism.
Secondly,
ihe nepu.rtment of European
Studies
al the University of Cluj-NaPoca offers its
studenis a significar"rt
number
of courses in political science, sometimes overlapping
the
political
Science Department' s
mission' and faculty. Thirdil' , the chair of nroral
;";
6li,ical
philosophy
of- the Departmglf of Philosophy at the University
of
Buc6arest avows a st ake
i n l he st udy of poi i t i cs, al bei t i t doesnot of f er courses
and
seminarsrelateci
to
political
science,
except
for a ttraster<legree
p' ogram irr public
p-.c,licies. org".,iruJ
#*^;;;
i' .i"tt"tLtrsirto,"ttu
of the lieiiinal' School
of Political
bi l ' , Ji *t ' u"i p. t t
t i . Adnri ni st rai i on'
-
L- r
-. -: ! L: -
Four other
rtould-be
politicai
Scienc,:
Departments
created within
private
universitie,
,t-,orrtj uu uaa.a
to the lisi,
altho"gt
ttrey.do
not have an approp$ate
faculty
of their o*r',, Urliuersity
BunatJ
of
Timlgoa'u
'i"t"
the fatl of' 1997
'
and the
ChristianUni' ersity
Dimitrie
catemir
oiBucharest
and the Bogdan
Vod[ University
of Baia-lv{are
ancl ir"i-N^p"J;iih.
fall of 1998. A closer
iook at the Department
of politicat
,.i"n.Juiil'd"gd;
V"a^
U"i"elsity
makes it a neat case study rvhich
can imrnediately
J;;#ffil.iith;
tale of how private
Romanian
institutions
of
higher
education
^r.
*"tti"g,
t!9 cu.rrent
dean is the forrirer
dean' and the leading
instructors
are Lhe most
disting.rishudtn
e*bers
of the homologue
Department
at the
B abe g-BclYai
UniversitY'
As far u, ,.r.ui.h
i, .or-,.urnud,
the same
dialeciics
of change versus continuity
seems
to d.ictate
the institutional
alignments'
Along
rrith Ti; dilnal
Schooiof
Political
Studies
and Public Administration'
tlre lrudtute
of Soci-i' ;i;;;;,;ii".t,.a
to tha Roma:rian Academy'
is a leftover
of
the former
lrarty Acaciemy
on the sicle bf research.
Led initiaiiy
by Radu Florian'
a
genuine
and unreconstruited
veter"n
of scientific
socialism,
iirvas
created
in 1990
fortheovertsr.rrvivorsofMarxism-L.' ,irrit*,beitofGramscianorAlthusserianbreed'
Curiouslye^o.rgl"il;11$faltrur"rtii"turepeated
thehistoryof
its instihrtional
predecessor. I^ td;;iy'r1,the
Institute-repreiented
the core of Romanian
Neo-
il;;;;;it"t
rr'"."";J
a""*,
,n- r*u"*dt
tiam renewed
not only its
qomposition
but also its interests,
and shifted
from
the left
to a more nationalist
vision'
the Institute
being
tagged uftu, bo',rtantin
Ridulescu-Motru,'a Pre-comm'nist
social
thinker
of
extreme
r1utior1uiirt-.iot1vi.rio"u.
In December
200f it rvas again dubbed
as the
"In-
stitute
of Political
Sclences
and hrtemational
Relations"'
and {re Government
seemed
to be lvillhg
to assume
a direct share
in its management'
Facing
tf-,i, ti"tu,1t
expression.of
contin*ry' th' u.qniversity.olP:tlut"tt
esta-
blished
in 1995 its or'n Center
of Political
Researih,
which became
in 1999 the I.stitute
for
political
Research
associated
with
the Departmeni
of Political
Science'
The
researchteam
has no intetectgal
or institutionat
links rvithany foq- of diarectic
and
I{storical
materialism,
and tries to provide
faculty
and students
rvith ihe opportunity
to get r1gorous
*i#g
;hi1e
focusihui,
,"r.ur.i' ,
o. a set of broader
theoretical
the-
nres and empirical
topics.
A-lso in rg99,
tL" Institute,became
a graduate
school
and
received
authorization
to offer masieri
u"d' doctoral
degrees
?1b:\{f
of the Uni-
versity of B' -,ch-est.
Funded
Uy *"^*";o'
u*' u' ds froir the World Bank
and the
usAlD,
the lnstiiutu
hu, *or.nied
a ,,rr*b.,
of irLnovative
ProSrams
that build on
the interests
of both facuity
and stuclents'
T'hus' master's
P{bgraTt
are avai'lable
in
the fields of political
science,
international
relations
una p"fUc policie.s'
and doctoral
clegees in pofiCcuf
s.iu.rce.
the lns*fute
offers studenis
thu oppbtf-.'ttlty
to work with
scholars
from Western
Europe
a'd
North
A:nerica.
In this iniernational
setting'
those
interested.
i" rililg
Ro*ur,ian
poiitics
1{. Society
do so in' a comparative
perspective.
By';didrlg?,
o*'r,
i9.1t"ui,
Srr-rcfia
Politica' The Romanian
Politicai
Science
Reviex,,t1,e
msJnrt"
#i., to faii[tate
and promote
more extensive
coopera6'on
among
scholars
interested
in Romanian
polity,
post-comm.unjst
tiansition
and the study
of
democrary
It tr;;;;"'r.y
,f..,", ri-r; i;"iii"te
for PoliticalReseardr
of the University
of Bucharesl
epitomizes
today
tt'tu ,"iautt
range o{ Romanian
academic
research
i.
r:oliiicai
scienie
u*derstood
u, un autonomoirs
d' iscipline;
tlciuipped
rvith specific
il;#;J
'pp,oucL"s'
"'-
-
Rerist,.r RonrUr tJe
$riinll
Polricl
"
vol.li
'
Nr,l
'
2002
I I , ; i i : ; i i i . , t
al i . Ti r' : I . l rr; : rt rnent
of
Pi "rl i t i cal sci ence
at r' : l Pt ' rl : l i c Adnri ni st rat i ou
ai t l -i e B; beg-Ecl yoi
Ui , ; veri i t y
cl eat eci \ n1997 i t s ol vu ; \ cadei ni c
Cer' i et f or Suei ; rl
Str-rdies, which.,,-,derli-tu
r"pltuision
of Vasile Boali
devotes collsidelable
effort to
empirical ,"ruur.h,
Lrni.-riufi*
rvith a suPerio.r n'rethodologitll.
ttrS;oyShfess'
and
;t#"d #;1y;;,h;;;;;t
of the electrbnic
journal East' Potiticat
Scignce
Review'
Moreover, U-r"
u.tiJii.r oiu
.oupte
of Instituies of t5e Romanian
Academy
in I3u-
charesr partialy;;;;;;
p;liticil
science. The Institute of Sociology
put in place a
research team in order to explore
electoral cappaigrrs,
ancl media response
to political
;;;;;G;r"niiriir.,"^r*fitlte
for rire st*cly 6f rotoliturianism
embarked
uPon an
exiensive
study,i;;.h
;herlomena
as coriecti' ization
of agriculture
and political
repression
under communism'
Tbe Scien'ce
af Political'
Scien'ce
The end of the cold war,
and the extinction of communism
both as an ideology
and a practic.
of gouurnment,
not only have macle
Possible
an unparalleled
exPe-
rimentinbuiiding?
i"*o.t"ti.
orcler
in Central and Eistern Europe,
but have opened
up a naost extraordinary
intellectual
opportunity:
to understand'
and comPare
r'vhat
h|;;;;t];
U*"
"Jiiner
understuttd"blu
nor comparable'
PoLticai
science
rvas
established ir no*-uJo
u*iart
the_debris
of scientific s6cialism
in the realization
that
i1." p*Uf-*r
u"a*"."*
of both new and old democracies
are beginning
to con-
verge- Ever since f.i;;ii;ili3;.r.h.lars
in the field of social sciences
and
political
'
ohilosophy
"r"
,*iJr.,g
t"?Jfif
i" long-fruskated
d'esire 6y u*tettd]lg
their ieaching
5#;J;;ih;;;;ripot-itical
issues]The
result is the e*etg"'',.e
of a grorving
bgdy
#;;;;;'#;J;i;;;iri
of crirical ensasement with E,.uopean
and Ameiican
i"t"ff"Arrf
o.,d political
trad,itions
thatinspired
the.moderrr
notions of democracy/
pluralism, poriti."' ilJU.ity,
i"ai"idual
freedom, and ci' il rights' For reasons
to be
5r;rffiiilil;;1.,.i;;' i,
neither
an unchallenged, nor a iainstrearn
endeavor.
' ^"' ;;;;;k;;' i,ilJ",""]"il
of the Communist monopoly over
the interpretltigl
of pofrn.f
thru. i.r,a..r.iut
rvere
irnmediately
manifest'
ihey should
be understood'
aqainst
"
Uu.i.groi,.r,a
of complete
nretrodolJgical
starvation,
os t' efore 19E9 not only
R|frj;fr;;j?l;;";ces,
t;r.cl^-':ii:ig
l.:sirn' arrE legal studies, ivt?re colrlpleteiv
opa.qu:
io any form of .;;;6i;;;;
to the"Westein
theor[tical
and conceptual
debaies'
but'
most of the time, social scientists
simply refrained. from asking themselves
lvhether
there is or noi
^
,,..1r-.,oa
of scientific
inquiry to underpin the m-ethodological
routine
of their research.
First, several
researchers
in history, philosophy
and larv tried to piece
toqgtirel
their acader,ri.
*;;;i;;;";
and
join forces rvith-junior scholars
trainbd in political
sciences
or relatedhelds
in westem
European or Nbrth A'rerican
lJniversities
in order
io lay down . JJd,r;oretical
gro.t.tJ ?o, th" emergence of political
science'
They
could not depend on any previous
ac-hievement,
as political science tvas not a discipline
rooted in the pre-war
Romaniar1
acaclemiC herita' ge, and it rvas not even smuggled
intoRomanian
social sciences
during
the communist period. Thek endeavor
lvas Sooi.'
harbored
by th;;ep^;t;.{
of Foiitical Science
and the Institute
for Political
Research
ai the ;;"J;i;;oi
g*l^turust.
Teaching ancl research are underraken
heie
in an eclectic theoretical
framervork,
ivhich inclircies mainly historical
approaches,
neo-i'stiturio."iil*
rytt"*
th.oty
and rationai choice theoiyl' Those who represeirt
r
A tentati ve theoreti cal
di spl ay
of these ori ental i ons
and al i st of topi cs. that Rorfrani an
pol i ti cal sci ence
shoul d
address in this perspect,".
;r'iJ'ui
r"""J
r"
ponier gtRBU,
$apte-teie
de politicl romlieascd
(seven lssues in
R;;;;..; i'oliiics),'An
tet, Bucu reF ti, 1 997'
liornuilu Politicd-scielcc
llcticrr'
'
Yt-ri'll
'
\" 1
'
lOt)l
--::
this tEndellc)r
are usuaiiy inclined to develop ieaching
n1ethods arldt acjdress topics
i,r,lt surni:lcn trL) and porrd,,:r lhe respective
rnerits
of r\mericar"r formal air:-r1"r' sis of
l . t . ' . , ^
-
^,
. .
- . - - ,
politics, German sociai criticism, French politicai theory, and iialian
historicai appro-
irches. Their basic assumption is that such a balanced and marrifold academic irai-
ning, convergent with a plurality of political science research standards, wili.qven-
tuaily yield an intelleciual overspill effect, by dint of being dispensed to several ge-
uerations of graduate and undergraduate students. They stand against any forrn of
pens6e uruguein political science that rvould mimic the ambition oi the late scientific
socialism to be the one and onJy officially approved science of politics. In adciition,
the researchers linked inteileciually or merely in institutional terms (Daniel
Barbu,
the late Alexandru Du!u, Aiexandra Ionescu, Filon Morar, Iulia lr,Iotoc, Dan Pavel,
Cristian Preda, Sorin Gabriel Sebe, Stelian Tinase, Laurer-rliu Vlad, George \roicu) to
the Department of Political Science at the University of Bucirarest, author by them-
-qelves
more than 6A% of the Romanian production of books and articles of political
science.
Associate to this tendency is the work of some sociologists
rvho tried to develop
a Romanjan model for the study of social capital. Focused
on transition, the con-
iributions of Durr' .iii-.i San.lu froni ttre Department of Sociclog)' or the University of
Buchar-est1, as rvell as i}re teamwork of a group of young scholars2 represent so far
the
lnramouni
pieces of solid empirical research that involves political values and
behavior.
, In fact, it might be alleged that closer a political science department stands to
sociolory, the more developed its quantitative researcJr gets. This general remark is
pariiculady true with respect io the Department of Political
Science and Public Ad-
ndnistration of Cluj,lvhich has over time demonstrated the steadiest comrnitment
to the formal methods gf political analysis, conducted by a well structured research
group run by Gabiiel Bidescu3. Instead, the University
of Bucharest Department
harbors some hi ghl y t heorebi cal f ori nal research due t o i f c
-^l i ^. '
^t -. ^-"; {ne
bot h
soci ol ogi st s and mat hgmat i ci ans{.
r r r LJLqr Ll r ! {u! LV r t r
PLr ' L) '
L' l
' l ( LLL- . l
Lht 6 uvLr t
Thi survivors of the Parly Political Acaclemy largeiy embociy the second trend,
harbored by the National school of Poiitical Shrdies and Public Administration and
the Institr-rte of Political science and International Relations. Incidenially, the partition
nf l ho Par f r r An: dpmv
i ni o a r esea16[
Out f i t and a t eachi ne est ab] i shment i s
1r r r v
( ( e{1r u q
Lr ql t uL5 LJl qul r Dr l
meaningfr:l for the evolution of one commr,rnist nehvork in a democratic environment.
The l ess i nf l uent i al represent at i ves of sci ent i f i c soci , . l ;
-^^, *ned t he
"
the ore ti ca l
"'ri
s si Jn ; ;iffi;;
it
"'., ",
i
"
g th e rr a fi o n a li r t l ; : ; r
"
#,tiu
;;15"'s c o r e cl
the last decade of totalitarianism. In the rneanrvhile, the better-connected
members
of tfre net rvere given the more pragmatic task to take over the market of political
and civil service careers. They were soon teamed up by a number of junior
scholars,
as rvedded as their seniors to the heteronomy of politics, which tl-rey tend to un-
dersiand exclusively in terms of public choice, governn' rent
performance, pblicies of
development, or the lack of them.
I
Dusrjtru S.{NDU, Sociologia tranziS:ei. Va!ori gi tipuri sociele in RomAnia (The
Sociclogy of Transition.
SocjaJ-V:lues a1d Typ-es in Romania), Staff, Bucure5ti,1995, and Spafiu/ social al tranzisiei (Tli Sociat Space of
Transilion), Polirom. ia5i, 1999.
?
loneJa BEREVOIESCIJ et a!., Felele schimh;rii. Rontinii gi provocirile tranzifiei (The
Faces of Change. The
Rontanjarrs and tl' te Challetryes of Transi!ion), Nemira, Bucr.rregti; 1999.
3Co-author
in Traian ROTARIU et a!., h' [etode stalrstjce aplicatein
Stiblele.soc]ale
(Sfaijstjcal
hlethbds in
the SocialScr' ences), Polironr, lagi, 1999.
{
Sorin Cabriel SEBE,
"Une
extension t}rdorique de l' echelle de Taagepera/' , in Studra Politica. Rontanian Political
Science
jievrerv,
I, No. 1, 2001, pp. 195-20.1,
Rci i sl ;r Ron:turi de
$ti i ntl
PoItj c.l
"
Vol .l l
"
l l r.l
"
2002
l.roln t{le l,oiitics 0t bclellce
t0 tlle JulurrLE
\rr r-urrtrLs
A. subst a*t i at i nq
exampl e of t hi s
unrvi l l i ngness t o ai l ot a t l . reoret i cal
i ci ent i t y t o
pc;iii.:rs
is offc,erl
b; d,l;;d"*
or.,' .]rt;r,rcl
b3' tlie leadirrg
irtstructors of the schooll'
5;;;;;kri.".,"
pti.ricaily
*o referenceLo.tire
major findings auci aul]rors of political
scieuce. a1cl cle.ot.
,on' t"
kincl of carrclicl-
igloripce-o-f tlie r*les arrd nret[6ds
of
scier.rtific research
an.l
.,' vriting.
It is no accicl"ent they fall behirrd tlie devlop-nrental
td."l;t of the futu' ;Oo
oi' tJ it' ," early' 70;
as they are cirive^ by a-vernacula'
aud
somervhat
u^co*scious
Marxism,
impurely
connected' to
the clerical and sometin"res
resourceful
one of their predec"ssors.
In t(is capacity, thev represent
what mig}t be
considered
a clrifi that dmulates
a local
traditio;1, as opposed CI the raclical
tenclency
i6at does not acknorn' i.dg.
an overall
Romanian intellectual legacy, but oniy,aPPre-
ciation o[ some i.,ai,ria"Xt
achievements,
as far as a science of politics may be con-
cenred.
Continr:ity
and strategic
intent,.however,
does not ensure performance'
at least
r.rot in terrns of research.
tio, d,oes
the tactics of deniai. very mudr.like.their
fellow-
successrs
of the Communist
pa.rty
in the governme^tal
i.d politic.al
realn-rs'
the
members of this
";;;;k;te,6otbr-indivicitLlly
and as-a group, subjected
to r' vhat
iiiay be callecl u do-u"g-is-nakecl"
synrlronte. fncleecl, for t' e-asons of democratic
approp,riareness,
ah;y
tpf;l1y
rejeci, iesent, a.d-try to deter any reference
to iheir
pre-19g9 institutionai.oots
ancl affiliations.
One of the most elusive paradoxes
of the
iloma.ri.n
political
and intellectual
arena is that, by covering up t\.eir not so remote
pasf the former ia*irgi*l
craftsmen
of-state so.iulistt-, u* th" first to entail that
commurus*
aourili
J3r"*"
," u" lookecl at. Because, had the kig been handsome,
;;d;;lJ
nurr" *en bothered
if he cane out naked from totalitarianism?
^-FrJt
tf,," tf-tita orientation
surrenclers
to a forrn gf
empilililP_:l:::y'
It indulges
in polk, poifr ***entaries
an-d predictions rather than
ProPer
research'
Ansrvers
are usually gi'urr.,-uitho"l
u"y
theoretica-l questions askecl, albeit ernpiricai
social
in-
quiry is supposed
to secreteirornrative iudgme.nts..Nevertheless,
the most popular
and handy i.rt*-ur' ,ii.t
tttu tgdy of poliEcs. has become the opinion
sui:r' ey'
Re-
gardless of any
"dii,-"
tt might
have, srrch an instrument
can
Provide
only shallo*'
Xccounts of polit .uti,' , r.l.rrJ-lt
disoositions.
Ali the same, the polltakers
have
becone
the pu*dits of ltomanian
poiitrtr..
;r-ti ol iis cerij.iiecl iiiterpreia.rion.
thcr' .
aic
' ' -uked
up by poiiiicians;;A..iedia,
and t1' picallv lo.ok:l?tTf it political scientisLs"' vltom
tli"y .i"siaer inexpeii' enced
an d cut-from-reality
intell ectu als'
There ur* u"#rul
Romanian
poll firms curiently engaged in surveys,
some-of
them har.,ing
..rr;;;;;;
;;;i;i
thiii investigations in theTrimervork,
and *nd er the
,"p.*af"noof
the Nerv
bemocracies
Baronieter coordinated by the Paul
Lazaisfeld
Society in Vienna- ihl *ort
reliable
of these firms seems tobe the Romanian
lnstitr"tte
for Fublic Opini;;;ri".y
(IRSOP),.chaired
!y *,t:,Datculescu2
and dorninar' t
Lr
the early,90.
Todaf,lt ,hui.i
ihe market *,ith tlie Center for Urban Sociology
(CUI1S),
*r, Uybor.f
eUlif-t-*;
theCenter
for Political Studies and Comparative
Analysis
of Dorel
gu'rao,
iCpSCAlr
the Institute for Nlarketing and.surveys
(INAAS) o.'vi-red
by Alin TeodoreJr
and baun
Anastasiu;
and rvith J relatively-newcomer,
N' letro-
Ir,{ed.iaTransifrru*u.
1.he last firnr
deserves a cautionary mention, because,
after ConS-
tarrtly
"r-,a
uggruJriu"fi' ftuai.t*g
the overu' heiming ui.tory of the Social
Democratic
1\4ad:mir
PASTI, Rom|nja
in tra,tzilie.
Cdd-erea in viitor
(Ronrania in Transition), N.' -i,' , Bucuretti'
1995;
vladimir
pAsrl,
N{ihaelo i{ii"t]lri,
t"r"a coDiTA, Ronrinia - sta rea de fapt(Romania:
the fact of the matter)'
Nemira, BucureSti, 1 997.
:
Fet re DATCULESCU,
, , part j es
and i ssues
af t er 19S9", and
"Pat t ers of vot er Al i gnment s
i n Present -Day
Romania., in Kay LAtvsoN,
;;;;liohirtrgr-e,
ona cuorgi_rcARAslN4EoNov
(eds)l Cleavages,
Part'tes'
and
liofe,s- sf,dje s from But;;;'":;;'e;;;'i;;uAir,
wungury:, Polanc!, and Romania, Prieger, !\tstport'
CT' a:rd
London. 1999, pp. 169-13J. 261-273'
Rotnr:-iiru lolticxl
Science Rnieri
"
\'o1'll
"
ii"'1
'
2002
28(r
Ur\-lilbL lJrU$JU
r
Alira NIUNGIU, Ronrdnil dupd 1969. fstoria unei neinJe/egeri {Roman:' ans
after 1989. The History of a
.\y' rs undersfan dng), Huma ni tas. Bu cu regti, 1 995'
-
.
rJul"nu rilir-rr-rf,
,-Ihe
Enrergenie
of
political
Pluralisrn h Romania", in comrir-uris t and Post-Comntunist
St udi esi zz, 199t ,
pp. l ri +z; ef u*oi dru RADU, Cheorghe RADU, . I oana PqRyl {B, ' skt emul pol i t i c romi nesc
--
"i
itrrii i".trlpfu
(The
iontanian
polirical
S1' s.ten::
an Eilropicil System2 Editura Tehnici, Bucuregti, 1995;
Alexandnr RADU, N,evoiasJunr birii: un deciniu de pluripartidisnl in Rominia' (The Necessity of Change: a
Deceraium af Mu\ti-F_artislriin
Bonr;rnja),
Editura lon Cristoiu' Bucure' sti' 2@0
Rni su Ront l t rl Ce
$di nf
gsl i l i ct -
Vol . l l
'
Nr, t
'
2OOZ
u
:il
cl
ii
,j
iii
I i:'i
t
t : -1
iii
party
in tjre ?-000 eleciions, its chief executive
officer, Vasile Diuctt, a melllber of the
facutfy ci sociolog), of the Uni.relsiiy' of
Ciuj.
ter:an' ,e the CaL' inet
N4inisier for Public
Ilforrnation.
Horvever, the accuracy of the
polls is occasionalll' questioned as \vord,
arld some circumstantiai proof, of collusion
lvith governmelltal or
Partisan
sPollsors
has come out in tl're recent years.
This orieptaiion is spoi<en
for not only
by numetous coll1ll' I.ercial_pollsters,
but
also by a quite large popuiahion
of self- or medja-aPpointed
"political analysts". Indeed,
thoseivho
deaiclte themselves
tg n' ricro-politics
analysis, i.e. to ctlrrent affairs and
political anecdote, are often considered, and always consider themselves, as competeni
lcholars of politics. Renorvned.
"political analysts" be.come usually only those who
cledicate themseives to the interpretation
of opinion polls, lvho coustrue for the public
the or-rtcome of the recent electibns, who comment
ou the latest politicai events, wllo
seern to elucidate the behind. the scenes
corulection
between political parties,
Poli-
tiians, and big bgsiness, rvho bring to light corrupdo.n cases, ancl denounce the abuses
of the authoriries an4 the civil seivice.
The reputation of being a "political analyst"
is nrosi cases eamecl by the fiction-rvriter,
the publicist,-the essayist and more rarely
bv ihe socioiosiit rvho leai<s into the media sone crumbs of tireoletical or empiri-cai
irowledge, utid especiaily if he or she does that in an vivid and vigorous marLner.
The most"successfuie"u*pt.
of this kind of poiitical
Prose
is-perhaps a bookauthored
by a physician conve* inio
joumalisml. Cleverly
rvritten, the volume has the whole
f,jt tt*tk*es a bestseller: pieces of advise for the opposition, admonitions for the
goverrrrnent, and interpretations
of collective patterns of public behavior; indeed, the
r t . t
DooK nas everyrning
but references
to the appropriate social science literature;
moreover, it carefirif avoid.s any disclosure
of rvhatever empirical data it may have
re[ed on.
So it is easy to feel dismay about the overall quality of the Romanian political
a*alysis. For running through ii is a dangerous
co.nftision. That betlveen politics as
gouJ**u.,t of people and elonomyas
administration of things. Indeed, t],uI" is clear
J.rid*.,.u of the s.',rUoming -in a posi-Marxistlogic
- of political science by-the
Janguage
of economics, rvhic-h haiargely
driven out the Ianguage of politics.itself and, dnqfly,
rhe iansuae,e of constitudJnuliu*.
The sources
ancl
PurPoses
of politics are thus
D- - - '
.eglectl' d ii favor of listing rnore clirectly
d:scemi.ble trends of public opinion and
pof,u.rt u.t,avior. That is, in favor of the poLitical regirne itself, as partisan mobilization'
parq, compei i t i on, and el eci oral part i ci pat i on
are f ul l y aut hori zed conduct s, ut i l i zed
iry tl-r. Staie to enforce its legitimacy.
Therefore,
political science does not provide
a, r annrai sal of oost -communi st
body pol i t i c i n t erms of l egi i i macy, soci al cl eavages,
*^
- ^ r "
a' d conflicts of meanings, but is complacent
rvith rvhat ihe system asks its citizens
to chose, believe, and even complain
about or stand against.
As a result, many obseliersbf
eiectoralprocesses
and party system, for instance,
are inclined to acksorvledge
by omission
ihat
Parties
do not have,to identify poli-
ri , -a1v arr6 et hi cal l v desi ra6l e avenues of soci al change, nor t hel ' do have t o organi ze
. ,
- *, . J
colsent through deconstructing
the mythology.of
the-State2; they are looked at as
' rerely
politicil
equivalelts of iornpanies
offering poliry proCucis' and competiirg
' t-::
r i . : ,
r' ,.'
{i
- .
l : : , :
Ur' l i {:
t
i
Frottr the Politics
of Science
t0 ttle Scieltcc
0l r0lltlcs
fc,i
*.,,-ctr:rd
pre [etei-,;tsl
in an app;Cve'l
frarne"vOrt:
Ry
g-t:.tntte
token' metirodologicrrl
uniqueness
is sor' -,uii*es
bestoweci
i-i6io*
ernp,iriiai siciel
irlcjtiir-\' ,
.,r-irici' '
iir mo.st cases
is inspired
uy o ir"r"t.a
""a
,.i'int dehuuioiism.
This
"r,.oi'rorit
on trre outco'res
of
poricies and poriticJi;il;i4.,
,utl-.,u,
tl.,ari
the process of cte'cisio^-maki'g
leads
to the
irncierstancling
of political
science
u, u .ot',su*er of actttal
politics' raiher
thai
a critic
of thebody
poritic
inJii,
.ou.,-,unts.
This
bra^cl of political
science
craims
to follorv
rvhat it considers
to be the mainstream
canon of.p' ublic"choice
studies,
discardirrg
from
the outset
the
troubl.esome
fact
fhat the p.ulilic spheres
and the choices
they
uphotd
u' a ...og,ii;;;;i;;t
be alike
in Norih Ameiica,
Western
Europe'
or Ro-
mar1ia. Further
more,
it takes pride
in being a iheoretical
and value free' because
it
iras no ptan
!o
."r.";;;;;.;;,
of what pis.t-commu$.st
is or should
be' It is very
rnuch
lfte,when
d;"r#g;;ith
i text,
one rniourcl rnerely icle.tiff
trre alphaber
in rvhich
it rvas written,
arrcl
provicle
a graPnoiogical
evaiuation' rvitho:-rt
any reference
to the
i*i*"
ancl content
of tirat particular
type of literature'
undeniably,
it nright
be countered
ihat there are, after all, Romanian
stude^ts
of elecions
""d
;;il;:al
parties
.or',.ur',.a
raiher with the nature
of the
political
systerrl
than
rvith its mere operations'
And indeecl there ale son1e
rvho
refuse
an
insidicnsly
posr-M;;irfaru*Uuck
of critical thinking, ancL do believe
that politics'
rather than respond
to popular
wants,
should p' o*Jt"
and enforce
rights'
Still'
the
first
athrnpt
to theorize
the structut"
o"a f.rnciions,of partisanship
i. a democratic
socidypys
little
heed
to extensive
comparative
evidenie'
and' targily
disregards
the
'
enollrxnrsbody
"i;;;";;devoted
io political parties2' Though'
more recentstudies'
shed
a Co6
"r,i
il*".f"f
figirt
on
the origir',, electoral *it1-t--tits,
and
political
;;;;tt}"
of tire pott-to**unist
Romanian
Party
sysiem'
post-communism is anyrvay,
u.J not .i""*p.lt.dly,
one of tr:
jlYottte
topics
of t' e political
p.oS".
X""ei1' ,eless,
transition
to^d"emociacy
understood'
in a cortrt-
femarrativ"
*ur,r,""i
ur'" poiiti.^r
process-through
lvhich the society
mirrors
its orvn
divides
and conflicts
hardiy
ever
re.ceived'
an apiosite treatment
in
noli.tical
science
as sudf,
.tuurfy'o',itffi;J.;
i1
this
iespect
ty sociological
research5'
In return'
,-,-{iii;:l
..=-,-*i".1;;;;;,
a nrolrili'l-ltronievicJin
elector"al
campaigns
and
bel'o.d'
ir;G,h#;il;t"d
i;pi;r
ihe re' oruiion
as a pai.rr to dernoirary
wai,
i.ir:' -' ' ;-' r' l
j nan0Yel 5] l ni ] j ' i f l , i ng] I nl u. : er - i }. ' ?' ! : f ai l ect ocapt ur ei t sf ui i nr eani ngf or t hesoci al
sciencesT-
Hitherto,
riore
detailed.
issues
of politica-l transition
and
democratization
a,re so fu, ..or."i.l:ii""ifif
.J,l"t
utor.,"
adciressecl. One reason looms
iarger
thar-r
any
oLl.Ler-vr,her.,
tt-," Jt rll
"ipor,-.o-*,*irrr',
is stripped of its
"curr:ent affairs"
features
,r-Gr"a popEscu,-A Change
or
porver
in R^omania:
the Results
""o
ti:S3fffrr"rJ,B; y;n:tTili:l
Etectlcp'd,
'rn
Got'ernment
iii 5ppotition,32t7997'
pp' 172-'186; Alin'a V
Fffi'H#ru[:]il:]:tiiffFr',:"ft;;::;1ru{
,"1,r:i}ii!;,f;:Tk9f"1.233^oo.,v),
t ,
e"'-+iisezRAR,^k
production
?tecrorate
du s1'sfinre roumainn":?1IF;-E*T't#i;;i:t#;,:i
Bucurestt
BucureSti,
zoooiiC;il"-ne'rrocr'4ia
privile':iilor:
a/e;lerj/e a/e'si/'
pn*,#ryer
Eections
;^ x!.7^i"l,r"JJ"i",
r'-,.;;;iffi;;
i''''?;ii'\Ebt,;:iTffiH*:?Aiffii."f;
oatru indinuri,,
(The Roniu' Jonloiiri.ut
sy,sienr
after Four Elections), in Str:a' jr
h"-:?'*'{!i-*
ai{riifu}}:n:i
{:::,:tr^ilii.';':i:i:fi[",:'J;:lf;;'ccmunrs
(rn e sti]t Born
Repubtic
*'ffi#jff#ft5g,,"r"i;
:#ili#"'S,?it,
ilj'.o*"*
et a)-, Construc|ia
simbolicd
a cAms,ttui electorat(Thi
iinbolit
Construct-t
"i,ft"
Eit'.il,t"i"#*i
f
"ltirtruf
European'
Iagi' 1993; Cornelia
EECiu, Folitica
a;rruo;ri{
irlitiri-priitir"in
*nrj.*;r'"iirtitiie
(D-lscursi'e
polidcs. political
practices in an
a4g?m,ni",c.#iiliiji'jllm,.*ti:F;11
ii:l::iti:E:8,t";;##:,Tf":,Jn:!:H:'i;r,?i!;,
pol ; t i i : ddst t ocr sl i l or ( l 4ol eni e' Mvt : t ' "' . t . 1
' : ""; "1: : : t t ' I . t at ' '
r \ r ( ! r ar r r vr r l ' L
b;i;;;
of ilie Denocrsisj'
Bicurcsti'
All' i9es'
Ronrnirr
potrtliat
Science
Rcricw
'
Vol'll
'
li"'l
'
l00l
2E(J U.'\|ill-:L lJrUilJU
iJ
i
\l
i)
i:j
a
i;i
t '
iili
P,rrty in tlre 2-000 elections, its chief executive
officer, Vasile Diuctt, a member of the
faculfy of sociolc,g)' of tfte Uni.;,:rsitl' o.f
Cluj.
ber:ame t]ie Cabinet Mil' lisier for Ptrblic
1-rformation. Horibver, tfue accuracy of the polls is occasionalil' questioned as rvord,
arrd some circumstantiai proof, of collusion
with governmelltal or partisan sPollsors
has come out in the recent
Years.
This orieltation is spoken
for not only
by numerous comtnercial pollsters, but
also by a quite large popuiation of self- or media-appoinied
"political analysts". Indeed,
thoseivho dediclte thimselves tg n' ricro-politics
analysis, i.e. to current affairs and
political anecdote, are often considered, and always consider themselves, as comPetent
ichoiars of politics. Renorvned
"political analysts" become usually only those who
cledicate the'mselves to the interpretation
of opinion polis, rvho corrstrue for the public
the outcome of the recent electibns, who commeut ott the latest political eveuts, rvho
seem to elucidate the behind the scenes
comection beiween political parties, poli-
tiians, and big busiless, rvho bring to light corrupdo.n cases, anct denounce the abuses
of ihe authori-ties
and the civil service. The reputation of being a "political analyst"
is most cases earnecl by the ficbion-tvriier,
the pLrblicist, the essayist and more rarely
by the socioiogiit
rvholeaks into the media some crumbs oi iireoretical or empiri.cai
l:nowledge, u.rd especially if he or she does that in an vivid and vigorous maniler.
The mosfuccessfuieru*pt"
of this kind of poiiticai
Prose
is-perhaps a bookauthored
by a physician convert inio joumalisml. Cleverly rvritten, the volume has the whole
tot tl-t m"t es a bestseller; pieces of advise for tl're opposition, admonitions for the
goverment, and interpretartons of collective patterns of public behavior; indeed, the
ilook has everything-but
references
to the appropriate social science literature;
moreover, it carefuXJr avoids any disclosure of rvhatever empirical data it may have
re[ed on.
So it is easy io feel dismay about the overall quality of the Romanian
political
a1alysis. For running through it is a dangerous
co.nftisi,.on. That betu'een politics as
gouJ**urlt of peopG and eionomy
as administration of things. Indeed,
{.,"1"
is clear
Jrrid*n.u of the iuboming - in a post-Marxistlogic
- of political science by the language
of economjcs, rvhich has-largely
driven out the ianguage of politics itself and, d-iiefly,
the language of constitudJnulis*.
The sources and
PltrPoses
of politics are thus
leglectld ii favor of listing rnore directly
d:scerni.ble trends of public opinion and
pof,U.rtU*havior.
That is, infavor of the political
regirne itself, as partisan mobilization,
purq' .o*Oetiiion,
and elecioral participation
are fully authorized conducts, utilized
fy tfru Staie to en-force its legitimacy.
Therefore, political science does not provide
air appraisal of posi-communist
body politic in terms.of legitirrracy, social cleavages,
ur-td confii.ts of meanings, but is complacent
rvith rvhat ihe system asks its citizens
to chose, believe, and even complain
about
r:r stand against.
As a result, many obsenters of electoral?rocesses
and party system, for instance,
are inclined to acknorr,ledge
by omission
ihat parties do not have to identify poli-
ticaliy apd ethically desirable avenues of soclal change, nor thel' do have to organize
copslnt through deconstructing
the mythology
of the State2; they are looked at as
lrerely
Lrolidc;l
equivalelis of companies
ol' fering poliry products' and competing
r
Alina \IUNGIU, Rom;in:J dupd 19E9. Istoria unei neinfe/egeri
(Romanians after 1989. The History of a
l\fisunde.rslandi;rg),
Humaniias, Bucurcgti, 1995,
I
Eg.I-ilianu filififff,
'The
Enrergenie of
lojitical
Pluralisrn in Romania", i:' Comrriu;u'st and Post-Comnunist
Studieiz7,199a, pp. 41' 1122;Alexaidru
RADIJ, Cheorghe RAD!,,l3ana POR_UN{B,' Sistemul po}itic romdnesc
-
"i
titt"^ entropic?
(The
Rontanian Politicat SysLetr.' rn
Entropical System4 Editura Tehnici, Bucuregti, L995;
Alexandru RADU, A' er.oia scltintbirii:
un deceniu de piuripartidisnr in Rominia' (The Necessify of Change: a
Deceru-rium of il4u!ti-partisilijn
Ron:lnra), Editur.r Ion Cristoiu, Bucure;ti.2000.
Rer{su Ronrxnl de
$riinli
P-outici- Vol.ll
.
Nr.1
.
2002
l"a,
Hi t
tti'
anri anal)' ses, it has no explored
ground to rest orr. The research oi Romanian-poiitics
as a traditiol af iirilljr-r.{ ancl
a hiLoLical experiencc is at iis very beginnin;;s. F{it}rerto,
only tlvo major topics slern
to have been
explored-so far: otr the one haud, the foun-
, l at i ons of t he t ooi urn Rornani an pol i t i cal
bul t urel ; on t he ot her hancl , pol i t i cal arrd
colstitutional nationaiism, and the making
of Romanian uational identity. Nati6na-
lisnr, construed as a mainstrearn poiitical
culture opposed to the intricate boost of
clemocrbtic values, is to a iarge exient central
to the public delratel, since it seems to
be rnore impervious to change than any form of political teneP. Flence, nationalism
- in its various embodirnents' and forms of manifestation - is criticaily and sys-
tematically dismantied in an entangled multicultural, pluralist, and human rights per-
spective{. A genuine liberal and coherent
theoretical inquiry into Romauian natio-
rualism is also to be noteds,
In fact, it is probably safe to say that the most substantive adrievements of the
Romanian poiitiialscience are to be found in the field of,political theory. But even in
this respeci not aii pieces of research are created
gtua1.
The group of authors linked
io theInstitute of SocialTheory maybe prolifig but theirbooks are too methodologically
conf'L:*se and id.eolcgically incongnto,-ts
'ic.cor:nt
olt. By conirast, rvell-defended essal's-
cn the pur.poses uid iimits of political thinkingT, o-r: on the conceptual
junctures of
political science8 warrant the thoughtfr-rl
attention of academics,'rvhile a more general
audience rvill profit from timeiy reviews of the ar-rthoritative Western Ijterah:re on broad
iopics such ai conservatism or liberalisme.
Furthermore, a cog_ent and original inter-
pt"t"ti*, of the conditions of liberty in a political.socie$, based on a close and critical
ieadingof the liberaltraditiory promises
to prevaillo,
3s
it mnverges rr'ith some valuable
conkibutions in the theory of poiitical representationrl,
in the interpretutiql of the social
.
contract theoriesl2, or in the fustory of the Romanian political thirLl<ingl3.
I
Alexandru DUTU, fuIodels and National Identities in "Ortho,lox" Europe, Bal' el. Euch:rest, 199S; Daniel
BARBU, BianS contri Eizanl. Explordri in cttltura politici romineascd
(ts5'zentium agai'r<i Etzantium. An Inquiry
rnio the Rcanaruan Poljtical Culture), Nernira, Bucure5ti, 2001.
lAnCreiROTH,Naj:onaJism
saudentocraism?(NationalismorDemoc-ahsationl,ProEuropa,TArgr:Mure$,
7999.
3
Daliel BARBU,
"From Hard Communism to Soft Populism. Rernarks on the Romanian Cultures of Na-
tionalsm-, 1^ Studia Politica- Romanian Poljtical Scjence Reviex" I, No. 3, 200i, pp. 71>731.
{
Da-n PAVEL, Etica lui Adam (Adanr' s Ethics), Du S_tyle, B_u1;e5t1 1995; George V.O^ICU, "Radical
Ternptations and Culturalldols. Reflectiirrs on a Polemic", in Studja Politjca- Romaru' a.r Pobtical Science Review,
i , No. 1, 2S1, pp. 219-?. 60.
s
Crist:niREDA, Modemitatea politicd gironrinrsnrul
(Political MoCenity and -Romanianism"), Nemira,
BucureSt i , 1998; Cri st i anPREDA, acci denf al nost ru(Ot t t Occi dent ),
Nemi ra, Bucuret t Ll 999.
6
E
-
Aristide CIOAB4
(199 5): Democrayia. Putere gi contraputere
(DemoclaT.
Powet aL.' td Counte-r-power),.
Noua {lpmativi, Bucuregti, 1995; Constantin NICA, Ateo/jbera/jsnr ul,Si socia}-dentx;=ia Ia sfAr;itu} secolului
al XX-lea
(Nm-liberalism' and Social-ciemocrary
at tlte End of the 20th Century), Edin:ra Institutului de Teorie
Soci al S, Bucurest i , 1998.
7
aniosr QqRIrlNSCiiI, Desdu'dere
,si
se ns in gAndirea politici
(Openness
and Meaning in Political TfiLn
tffg),
Instihrfut European, Ia$, 1995; Adrian lv{lROiU, Filosofia fird haine de gald. Eseufl de filosofie politici
(Philosapky u,ri.rlouf AJ|ires. Essays in Political Philosophy), All, Bucuregti, .1998.
8
Lilirs; I\,flIruT
,
Dilanele gtihlei politice: incursirme in shsdiul concepfe/or (Tfie Dilenmas of Political Science:
an I nqui ry i nt o i l s Concepl s), Edi t ura Enci cl opedi ci ,
Bucuregt i , 1996'
t
ha*r" Paul ILiESCU
,
Conservatorismul
anglo-saxon
(Ang.lo-Sax
on Conseruatis=t), Ail, Bucuregti, i99{;
IDEN{, fuAenjjsmuj - intre success gi .i/uzri
(Liberalism - between Success and lllusior' ,s). All, BucureSti, 1993'
Io,{.urelian
CRAILJ"I'11, Etogiul iiberti!ii. Studii de filosofie poli.ticd.(The Laud of Li*riy;sfu.dies in Political
t' hilosophl),Polirom, Iig' r, 199E; Cristian PnEOe, te libdralism.e d^u cieses4o5. Tradition libdrale et critique du
tatatitarLine da.ls /es ann4es 1938-1950,Ed\tura
Universitilii
din Bucure;ti. Bucuregti, 2000.
rr
FilonIIORAR, Reprezenlarea po[ficd: actori
$
autai
(Political Representation: Acfors and Authors), Paideia,
Bucureqti,2ffJ1.
r:
Ciia[n ,{VRAN{ESCU, De }a teologia puterii abso]ute Ia fizica sociall. Finiruiine gi-dezord,ine in teoria
conlracfnJuisocial de la Ir,obbes /a flous.siau
(Front Alrsolute Por;ser Theology to Soc'el PhS'5i.rt. Finitude and
Disor,ler in the Theory of Social Contract fram Hobbes lo Roussearr), All. Bucuregti, 1995.
13
Alexandra IONESCU, Le bien cornnturi e! ses doubles. Deux rencont.res roumahgs e.-tre efJugue et politigue'
-lld
itura UniversitE
lii
din Bucure' s ti, Bu cu re9ti, 200 1
-
Rcvistr Ronrlnl de
$riinll
Polric
o
YoiJI
n
lir.1
n
2002
It
,,.' ,' nr.rl<i.
be imp::cper
to rest tlre
case rvithout
lsgLrgnizirrg that a sizeable
share
cf politic;,! igse:rr.Cr
ieriaii' i:;
r.rnaccr:unted
fol, as it is dissolved into coirsr:lting reports
alci policy-papers-
As far as public
choice is concerned,
think tanks are pelhaps the
mosiglarir-re o"a rervarding experience
in institutionai design urrdertaken
after 19E9.
Tire slearhu"ua or them all iithecenter
for Political Studies and ComparativdAnaiysis
(CpSCA)
set about in 1992 by Dorel
$andor,
a senior advisor io the first post-com-
inunist prime minister.
The sbcond
in iine of success comes the Roinanian Academic
Sociery tSAn)
creafed in 1996. The
apparently stillborn Institute for Political and Eco-
,romiJli.r"ot.h
foliowed their example less effectively in 1998. What is particular
about these NGO' s is that, lvith
the notable exception of the Open Society Institute,
they collect their funding predominantly
from pubiic agerrcies: go-1etli_t-rletttal com-
miJsions,
ryiten tl:e goveriinent is politicaily frierrdly, PFIARE, USAiD, UNDP, World
Bank prograrus
and the like.
Anyia1,, waged
by universities,
academic institutes or think tanks, political
science i"s"ir.l', r."ty Uy u"a large on p"!!. funding, RonrarLiau or not. The principal
s.ponsor is the Minj;fy
of Educatiol
and Research, but apart from specialallorvances
granted occasionaliy
io privileged
insr' iutions like the National Sc1-' ool for Poiiticai
Snral* and Public Administration,
the subsidies cover just the faculty' s emoluments.
Thus, and in order
to put together
an appropriate teaching or research project,
each
,d.epartment and center had to identi-$
and raise supplemerrtary financing'
Concerning
the impact of this in-escapable funding chase on the content
of the
proiecb
sponsored
und th. choice of research themes, three observations
could Lre
L-rade firit, as of 1995, the Ministry of Educationand Researdr duly observes
academic
urrto"o*y and refrain from any involvement inthe-la1'out of academir: programs
and
curricrrla. Secondiy,
university
departrnenb normally compete for international
grants
rvith a vietv to stiengthen,
deveibp
and diversify urtdertakings oj their orvn choice
and r,,' ithin an alreai.y confirmecl
area of competence. Classified as governmenial
;;;;r;tions,
their::ioposalsrre
often
,iiscardecl from the outset. As a result,
their
op"port rnities are liniiteci; but their research can focus on matters at hand' Irr the thirci
oi nl . u. j ' JGO' s' nraybecompar: at i vel yl . et t erof f
rvi t hrespect t ot undi ne, but t hel surel y
are l ess coherent i l t hei r i esearch
ui i ' rt ' l t at rr' )i l s, f or t hey ct epend on t hei r subsi . i i ; ers'
agenda. n hich more often thai"i not dictate ihe il-rematic bearings of the inquiry itself.
As a ccrrsequence,
ai irancifiii r.,i ieseilicirers-d,r compeli.C io sluit fro;lr cor-r-r:-,,
-ij:ll
assessment i t o shadorv
ecol l omv sl l we)' s, f rom Europearr i nt egrat i on t opi cs
t o ci vi l
society issues, or from the reform of the electorai sl' stem to security and stabiiitv
in
the
gatkans.
Typically, the research
goes rvherever the mone)/ are.
The Politics of Political Science
Clearly, these unprecedented
deveiopments amount to the entergence of a scaie
of organizotiot' t
of political science far rernoved from the polit;' -building
and staie
con11.6l obsessions,
ivhich had underpirined both pre-communist social thinking,
and
scientific socialism. For the neiv framervork of teaching and researcl-r led io a rapidly
increasing public visibiliff of politicai
science. Of course, iJ there is a morality of sierrce,
t6is neivf
'acquired
reptitation should not be measured according to the neurotic self-
ascertainment of *"ny a political
comtneutator,-but ou.gh1 to be consjstent
rviih the
quality and meani"g of tliose publications
which rnatch the standards of a genuine
incl iniernationaliy
recogrrizable
science of poliiics'
h-i regard to tiie editorial poiicies
aimed at the dissemination of political science,
they fall i-Xto five categories:
thbrecovery
of a Romanian tradition of social arrd polibical
Fron the Poiitics of science to the scicncc
0l rolitics
I(orrruri'.rrt Poliricel Scicnce llevicugVll.il
'N''l
n
2002
i ! i
r 3
ii
t;".
I t i
thirrkinp tht' tralslatiorl of classic vrorks in political pl-Lilosophy anci theory; the ecliting
c,f handiooks; the prornOLic:',
,:,i
L.--':,' rl:i.i',;i
;rri'lLi',i.:
:r; lli't nl i;-,1: n.t of-sp":ciali:e c1
j'':r-r ;1^15'
' fire
rnost active plbfirllirlg houses in this
resPect are Nemita, Humanitas ati' j ,rrli of
Brrcharest., and Poli.rom and Institutul Erti:opean
of Iasi. .A11 these private co,-n' ::rrie:;
issue series clevoted to poiitical science, the most.profuse being Societatea polititd -
rvith forty books publislied over ihe iast fo'.rr years - eclited
'ni' CrisrJan Preda on behalf
of Nemira.
A serious effort to recall from oblivion
or denial several
Pre-communist
Roma-
nian au*rors was undertaken. Bbth social-liberal
theoreticians
(Constantin Stere, Virgil
lvfadgearu,
$tefan
Zeletin), and reactionary
thinkers
(Constantin Rddulescu-lr4otru,
Miha"il Manoilescu) fourci a renewed place in the public square, and their rwitings
are ever more looked at as land.marki
of a yet scarcely explored history of the Ro-
mailian political ideas.
Some classic masterpieces of political
philosophy, amid rvhich Locke' s Ti+' o
Treatises of Government
and Tocquevill
e's Democracy in Anterica,lvere translated
i1 Romanian for the fust time. Moreover,
a n'hole comPany of political thinkers appeal
tl the l;on-,a1i;rrr public in its c' ,vn language:
Karl.Popper, Isaiah Beriin, Norberto
Bobbio, ALbert O. Hirschman,
Leo Strauss,
Hannah Arendt, Friecirich von Hayek,
Giovanni sartori, Ralf Dahrendorf,
Robert Dahl,
]urgen
Haberg'Las.
Somervhat less successful
was the handbook
endeavor. Aiongside a thoughtlu|
and seriausly assembled. handbook of formal methods in the social sciencesl,
a us5iul
but unfirrished keatise of political science2,
which may serve not only as a good-in-
troduction for the b"si"rjr; shrdent,
but also as a review for those reasonably familiar
rvith the field, and a [ouptJof decent hisiories of political ideas3, stands a miscarriage-
A textbook of political Soctrines, purportedly
confronting thq "universai" concepts
rvith their Romanian inchrnationsa
should
be listed here not in order to assign any
blame or to conJer it a larger than life importance,
but inasmuch as it turns out to be
significant for the upptoih bolh publishing
houses, and certain editors have to po-
hf,cal science; tugr"ituUty for those students-who
might have sougtrt guidance
in tire
complex rvorld 6f ideologies,
and despite
the presence in the volume of a number
of cl.istingr-rishecl. authr-,ts,1ome of the contributots
were selecied among politicians
and
jou#aiists, decidedjy unfamiliar rvith.anyi.lung
close to a political concept. One
can iuspeC that a *o.u .ipuble lead from the editor on matters of scope and dtection
rvould ta' e resulted in a vastly different
and better books.
Eqouily ineffectual
and failing far shori of their purDose, proygd.to be the fir' o
clictionaries of
"essential" politicaT
rt,ritings that rver-e recently published,
notwith-
si ancl : , ns t he oual i t y of seri eral of t hei r pa; t i cuJar ent ri es, and t he knowl edgeabi l i t y
- ' -
"1- - . '
of many"contiibutors. Although the objectiv.,u,"d
framervc,rk of such undertakings
make inse intuitively, the different pieces of the rvorle hold iogether corrfusingly,
and both voiumes are padded with material
that any advised reader lvill find irre-
Ievani- The reason iiesin ihe lack of theoretical outlook and political insight of the
I
T;aian ROTAR.IU et a!., Ltetode statistice ap)icate in
fti;n.fs.re
sociale, Poiirom, Iagi, 1999.
r.A,nron
CARpINSCFIL C.irtiun BOCANCEA;
I6inla
politicutr:r. Trafaf (Lhe Scjence of Poli6cs. A Hattdbook),
\,Iol.
I, Ild!tura UniversitSlii A.I. Cuza, Ia9i, 1998.
r
Alexandru DUTU,
' Hisroire
ie la pensle et des nentaliiis pol::,;ques europd.enrtes, Editura. Universitilii
din BucurEti, Buc.rrieltl, iggg; ton GOIAN, De,la polis. la^ontologia politici
(From the Polls to Political
Ont ol an4, i di t ut " I nsi i t ut ul ui de Teori e Soci ai i , Bucureqt i ,
2001'
{
Alina \Iur,-clu-piPplDl
(ed.), Docf,rne politice. Concepte uru versale gi re alitdsi romineStj
(PoJitjcal Doctr-rnes.
t-tniversat
Conct"pls and Ron' tanian Reafitje-s), Polironr,
Ia5i, i99E'
.
5
The same edi t or coordi nat ed a poi i t i cal sci ence manual f or hi gl ' r school s publ i shed by Pol i rom of I aSi i n
' oo' ' :-*"' "' 0":"hasanoptionaiprace' ^ln' ""' ' ^:::::-ffi-r-,
vorrr
"
n,.,
,
zoo,
I
!
:l
:
1
t
[ .
I
I
I
t,
I
t
fi:ral prorl:ct, 6.ue tc the pclr: e,-litorial
work provided
cither by a:r inexpert
qraclttate
StuC&rtl Or even
by so,-t-le i-i1fl'l'lbels
of the Romanian
;\caciein;']
Even if the p,iltiuhir1g
houses
welcome by a1d large.mopt
gf
t]' t. original
pro-
cl.uctions of the Romanian"authors
claiming to wlite \viti' rin the borders/.Porous
as
they may be, of political science,
this liberality is rrot.lviihottt risk' As' tlre variot-ls
universitv
presses
"r. ""a",
financed
and havL no natioual distribution,
tltost of the
' t
burden lay on
tnu *uttut-oriented
eciitors. Driven by commercial
interests,
ihey
'sually
discourage
the submission
of lengthy manuscripts, loaded rvith scholarly trotes,
references
and ilrdexei. ft
"y
rypically
ltei"r
to proniote authors rvho aiready irave
u Ju.u i^ the
public rnincl for
hiving bee,r present either in politics, ol.il the media,
;;;, t.;;;ir";,h.
case, in both.
Thus, the-public at large takes for reliable political
;;i";d;piolific
freelancers
like Silviu Brucan, a journalist of the militant
1' ears
of
totaiitaria*ism,
and a last mirruie
clissident, even though such best-selling autirors
;;;;t;a
u"yth,.,g
in common
r,vith the basic rules of scientific research, a-ll sciences
considerecl3.
Certainly,
in any culture there is A venlle, and perhapsa Valid missiou,
for commentators
of currelt
uffui.t,
and for political essayists. Providing there is also
a
position,
and an audience,
for
political siientists arrd their sdrolarly
productio;r,
#"1y meant
io be gratified-by
a huge popuiariiy
yet,
Romanian'pr-tUtic
de6ate
"."ho!s
mainiy ihose books rvritten by insiders
of
,roUtics,' research
itself being regarded
as an
-unredeemable
ve;rture of outsider
i"*"if["J,
*hor"nt
derstaridinf
of the political arena and stakes is purely
absj11c,t'
ih;;-**y
politicai
scientists
ire rvilling to indulge themselves in th^
-"l'rir"q
expectations
and rua" tf-r" sciolarly
rvorkbJhind a moie p"UU."ffy co.,lrrriti"f,
tql;i
or evenloose.interest
in any form of theoretical perspectit'e, or empilicaiinr'3stig1ti.o1''
A c*rrent aJfairs dominant
idiom,
which with"ts ui"uy any ambition-of poli tical thi-''-
kt;th;
th"s U"lo*e the habitual
dialect not just of politlcians and
journalists, but
also of many u poriti*r
scientist.
Consequentiy, political
journaiism seems
to stand
out as a cleai *d
pru-o.rr.t danger
to the Romanian-rvould-be political science.
Because
it does rvhat a sC&ie
would ,,"urr",
do: it discloses, adjudicatei, insLlucts, and predicts,
it has nc intellecLuf-ao"Utr
t hatsoever,
ieno:-es *eihodological
cleadlocks,
and fits
conveniently
the conrrnon
rvisdom'
Poiiricai
Lrrose
and poiiticai science ftave De cor;ic
hopelessly
embroiled
and confused'
^
Tne iccount
rvould not be complete
rvithout bringing in the fen' L-ooks
rvritten
rlirpr-ilw in infemationai languoges
(Fterrch arrcl engiisli) bi'
-a
small number
of
il;a,*an
p;il*l ;i entis ts."Th J to pi.r a d cl r ess e d
li
th,ut
"
auth o rs ran g e fr o m the
sources of Romanian
political cultuie6 to political theoryT, and, of course,
to demc-
tront the Potitics
ol bctence t0 tlle
Julellcc 0t t' olitlcs
r
{-aurenliu
$TEFAN-SCALAT
(ed.), Diclionar Ce scrieri po}itice fundamentale
(A
Dictionaq'
of Essentia}
PoEtic al W ri ii n gs), Hu mani tr s, Bucu r e5 ti, 2000'
:
Alerandru sunou,'C(""rgrr"
\'r;ouTESCU, and Alexandru BoBoC
(eds) Enciclopedia
opete.lor.
funcamentale
"lu
tilouirlloli'tfir-n',oarrnu iriru
Encyclopaedia of Essential l{orks itt N{odern Political
Philosophv),
Editura Instjtur.rlui
de Teorie SocialS, Eurure9Li.' 2001'
"-i t#J^^];;;;;;;y
he tri ed i n 136 pages to sol ve al i the questi ons of soci al
{range-i 1
Russi a and Eastern
err.p* si"i,iuniJcAN,
i'r.i i cu,unqe ilfirrlsra and Eastem Eutope, Praeg.er Publisheri, \'Vestport, Conn ,
199E'
{
Dan
pAVEL
,
Levjatattttl BizantTt't. Altalize,
atif udi,rri
,si
studir'-po/iticel The Byzantine Leviathatt.
Ana/,t"se-s,
Attitudes
and Political Studies), Polirom,
Ia5i, 1998'
' ^'-
S-ilinNaSf,
fotililli^ ,oe5ec elire
5i
soaetafe
(Tfie Revo.lufion that Failed: Elifes a,rd Soce|), Poiiront,
Iagi, 1996.
6
Alexandru DUTU, l,{oCels and. National
ldeniifjes in "Ortltodox" Europe, Babel, Bucharest, 1998; Daniel
BARBU,
g,zance,no."*ri "rnoi i ti rt.Essai surl aproducti onp.ol i ti .quedel a' foi au!' toS.' enAge,Babel "Bucarest'
ii;r"1d;
\tiDl;;.t t"ui,o;rs
et nrenfa/itis. Iextes .r'dLrnrs i la n'tdmoire du Professeur Alexandru
Dultt,
IJ.rbel, Buca rcs t, 1999.
7
Cristian PREDA, t-e lib{ralisne
du ddsespoir. Tradition bLrdrale et cntrclrj: drr lotalitarisne t!arts les nnnics
lg-2,s-lc/i-Editurau.i*"iiitliJi,'tBucureqii,Brrcurepti,2000;Ale1-a1{1 lO.ryESCU,
L'ebiencomnlu'ter-<escoub/cs'
D;;;'r'";;;;;;;;;;;;;;-,.,lri
,rt.,;,1u"
er potrig;:e. E.litura Unii,eisitilii dh Bucureeti, Br'rcureeti.
2.001'
Rcntrnio Politicel Scicrrce.
Revi':rv
'
\ol'll
'
\"I
'
l00l
a
:l
a
n
crat i c t i nn-"i t i on anri consol i dat i ol rl .
Three
b: ansl at i ons, due t o nr. rrgi rrl i p' i rl t l i s)rers,
Lalrght tc i:e a.lclr:dr. iis ihey :::.r' ,' be inslrunrerrial
in promoting topics related to I{o-
nranian politics in the international
aretla'
Yet, since March 2001,
the Romanian research in poiitical science is mainly epi-
tomized by tire journal Stuciia
Poiitica. ftontaruan
fo,rdcal Scjence RevigwlPubiishecL
quarterly - in English, Fiench, Cerman, Italian, and Romaniair - by the Institute of
Political" Researcf, at the University of Bucharest and printed by the N' {ericliane
Publisl-Ling House. Daniel Barbu, Ciistian
Preda and Alexandra lonescll are editing
the jouma"l urrcler the autl"rorityof a prestigious
international arlvisory board. Belie-
vir-rg th.at ideas do matter, ihe--editors share a common commitment as intelleciuals
,rlcl"scholars to try to shed light on the major political problems facing_Romania, and
to re' ,,isit, after the demise of the totalitarian
experience, the very foundations of
clemocratic id.eals ancl procedures. They thin-L of the jor-rrlral as a challenge and a
prandate
to be invol,red in contemporary
issues of fundamentai importance, related
rrot only to the dernocratization of Romanian
Polty
and pclitics, but to ih.e "great
transfonnation" that is taking place in Central and Eastern Europe. The main topics
targeted so far are the theory of democracl,,
the hisLorl' cf the Romanian political
tho"ught, radical politics, anctihe cultures of nationalism and citizenship. The
journal
subniits all articjes to a refereeing process,
and has an extensive section of book
reviervs, both novelties in the Romanian political science setting.
The Departrnent of Political Science and Public Administration at the University
Babeg-Bolyai of Cluj-,Napoca publishes annually since 1996 Smdia Universitatis Babeg-
Bolyai-Politica,t*hi.h
inciudes mainly short_papers
Presented
to seminars and con-
ferinces. The outlet of the Institute of Social Theory of i}'e ilomanjan Academy
is
Rerrisfa deTeorie Sociald
(71'te
loumal
of Social Theory) whidr is suitably ne\/er quoted
except by its orvn ediiorp and authors, as thgy rvriie-so far out ihe ruies of social
,eseirch' tllat is obvious they never had a reliable social science to think in. Yet, there
are oth.er
journals issued by different Institutes of the Ro.manian Academy
that are
rvorthrvhile to be used by-political scientists. The most helpful in this respect are
Revista Romdnd de Sociologie
(The Romanian
Journal
of Soio\ogQ and-Arkivele
Totalitarismului
(Totaktariansm Ardtives).
Trvo other academic journais should not
pass unnoticed, as they represent i-ndispensable
tools.for politica.l scientists:
Rer.' :sfa
cle CeLcetdri Sociale
(The' Journal of Social Researclt) and, particularly, Saciologie
Rom 6reas c d
(Rornani an S o ci olo gy)
fuveral other
joumals and magazines
address issues in political science, but as
they a;re edited b;i privaie organizitions,
they only possess a
Precarious.academic
l ooi f i menr dn nnF i ; . r , - ' oo"- r evi pr ved ar f i cl es- and al e of t en t i mes behi nci t he sche-
- {gSI Ll r l i c{L}/
LI LJ I l \ JL yr l l t l y=E!
f Lvr ur Yuq
q^r r Lr ve,
clrile. Am'ong them, a speciai mention deserves Sfera Politicii
(Th9 Splere of Politics),
- -^i i +i ^-r ------i ns
edi t ed si nce 1992by St el i anTXr-rase. The out l et does not convene
cr
PUI I LJLdI
l I LAEAZUr s sql ( cu auLr v L/ / a
most of the acidemic standards, but lvas for many years, before plunging into current
journalism, the only publication
at hand fo-1 rnalY political scieniists. Note*' orihy
are also: Polis. Revisti de ptiinle politice
(Polis. A
Journal
of Political Sciences), publi-
sl-red as of 7994by a poll fit-m and devoted increasingly to transJating into Romanian
ariicles of p' ,romineni international scholars;
.Rev:sf a- R.omAnd de
$tiinle
Politice
(Ti"te
1
CristianBOCANCEA, La Rountanie du conmunisnte
au postcomnru,' u' smg L' Hai-mattan, Paris, 1998; Filon
1IORA& La productton 1lectorale <Iu sl,sfdnre rounrain rfesparties, Editura Universiii!ii din Brrorre;ii, Buctuegti,
2000.
:.Alina
N{UNCIU, DeRunriurcn na& 9, Friedrich-Ebert-Siiitun&
Intergrap}r Verlag, }i4iindren" 1996; \Iladimir
PASTI , The Chal l enges of Transi t i on: Romai l a i n Transi t i on, t rans] at ed by Frag. a Cheva Cusi n, East European
NI onograpf u, Boul di r, CO, 1997; Zi gu ORNEA, The Romani an Exl reme Ri ght : , he J9i 0s, t ransl at ed b1' Eugeni a
N{aria-Popescu, East European }"' lonograplu, Boulder. CO. 1999'
Rcdsta Romtn1 de Sti fi rtrl Pol i ti ci
.
Vol .i i
.
Nr.f- 2002
t i r 1
iiii{
l r"i l "'
v'i.
-t
;i
.1.1.
i!
.ri
i:i
' : :
. L.
i i r
: r t
( ; i
r,rii cc,nsulieriis lyiil"rin
-rrl1jgns
political
parties.
Sn fer, tl-,r t' trlkel. rvas eble tr: absorb
ir*ci recogpi::c tlie utiiily of
1' oirr,g
poliiical
scientists. As tir,;ir;iitnibt:r i.;
' .o
it-,i:::age
clramatic*illy over the next years, a certaiu
amount of concertl is about to looil out
of the high' enrolment ratio
in political science
departments.
This escalatiol of the stu^dent population
is not innocent, and for a couplerof
r'otives. Firbt, silce i.999, the departments
are financed by the N4inistry of Education
anci ltesearch according to the number of siudents they currently enroll. The more,
the u,ealthier, could be"*ierefore
the new motto of Romaniarr higher education' Se-
,_:o*diy, there are on average and'any given
fall five times more candidates than places
",ruitJllu
in the political J.i.r',." deplrhents,
generous as they may.be in.their re-
cruiting policies. For a political science education is generally cons.idered to be a
prefere"ntiul passagervay
to an important,
appointed or elected, public position.
Because no"1J*a11
poiifics itnett is more ibo.rt
r,vho
and horv governs, than rvhy
and
,ighat
for. It follorvs' naturaliy
that political s,cience is commonly understood
as
a study of rule apprehended as dominion, rather than as norm. Notably enough,
the
iitrt uitu*pt to h'escribe the landscape of the post-communist Romanian politicai
,.iu".*t pJid, ,r-.oybe deseivedly,
more attentibn to the
Poygr
brokerage
and the
distributi^or"L of ,eso,:rces within aiademic and para-academjc cirdes, tl:,an to the quality
a1d capabiliiy of research. As institutionalized
Romanian political science is more
about control, ranking anci public recognition,
than about scientific findings able to
advance our understJnd"ing of Romanian politics
and polity. For that ma.tter, Roma-
lian political scientists of iny intellectual
persuasion
tend to be more involved in
the pirlitics of thei.r discipline,
than in disciplining the political and scientific legacy
the3,'are supposed to think over and shape
up'
To conclud.e, trvo maih reasons seem to stand behind fie slolv coming of age of
tire Romanian Politicai Science'
On the one hand, the institutions
of continuitl' had - and still do - a priviieged
access io public resources
(funcling, Iocals,
.equipment,
political support)' They
ncrr, el rrare
"' ,
anoroadr i o
pol i t i cs and t he pol i t i cal I argel y i ndebt ed t o nat i onal i sm
*^' - r l
and rrrrlgur Marxlim and they are
job-market olientated, Thus, the tirree universities,
Buchare"st, Babeg-Bolyai of
' Cluj,
and Iagi, ivhich bear the burden of change,_are
frequentil, confrbnted tvith survival problems,
and praclically very scarce funding
fot !-piti.ai researc-|. In fact, the veiy id.ea of research in political science is hardly
' .r-r.pnr;.]
hv rhp no[tica] environment.
Beyond the irutitutional coniinui[' , the main
he' iia.,e.,irho ..,mmunist era iies n-raybe
in the rvay politics is understood, not as a
' - ^- - - - - - - - _. i
. ' : .
l eoi t i ni at e obi ect of empi ri cal research and t heoret i cal exP_l orat i on, bu. t as a seri es ol
i-""il;;;;#Jlu"r,t,
to be construecl in an economic key. i hav.e already empha-:il"{
how gleat a tol1 the language and reasoning
of economics has taken of political
argurient. And this is not a mere academic
lvorry.Indeed, il post cgmmul]st politics,
thE nerv "capitalist" superstructure
(to reveise Marx' s terminology)
is
gr.eclited
at face
r.,alue, rvhilsi no one seehs eager to ir-rvest in a rights-enh'enched political infrash-uchrre
able to suppori the unprecedented
dynan-,ics of-social change.
-
On t}1e other hand, the pre-communist
cor-rdiiion of political scieirce seems to be
reaci i vat ed: i i s i egi t i maq, i s; hal l enged
bot h b1' soci ol og-y - whi ch cl ai nrs a monopol y
nn rl rp cm ni ri r-al
i . r. or. h of t he socLt y - and 61' publ i c l qrv - rvhi ch has t he ambi t i on
vl a uaL
to be ihe only true science
of the Stat-e. Nor is that all. As in the ' 20 and the
' 30, the
I
Lrr"inia STAN,' ,Romanian Political Science since 19S9", in Europe..rn/o umal of Political Researcrh, 35,7999,
^-
qn7.,q??
Revi sta Rornhl de
$tUnp
PoIdc
.
Vol .II
"
Nr,1
'
2002
7f
a
tg
, ,
, Ul
C-
i
--
ttl
) ac
v/
e'
r i ul l t t t l u r ul l t l LJ
ur
cri scourse on pori i i cs
runs t he ri sk
t o be conf i scat ecl by t hc' f reel arl ce
pol i t i car
i o' r: -
r::rl!sm..' l-r:ii.-,ir:r-1by
t1' ,e airrbition to sci
iire rr' ries anct t)rci"rlgirrSe
oi
;i.11i!ca1
r.ali' i;is'
perhaps
the greaterii;.;;
ior
rl' ,e
Romaniau
Politicai
siience is to cirarv on a' d
r,rinforce
tire cl+miriant
ciiscourse
of Society-anct poiity,
insteaci of provid.ing
a critical
theory of politics.
g;.";",
rt Max
Wei:eiforrlo,' rsly
arguecll,
a solial
ssience
shoulcl
rather recognize
inconvenient
facts,
meani^g trrose trral co.trovert
co*rfortably
esta-
blished certainties,
including
its
very own'
On balance,
t1' ,e Romu#un
science
of politics suffers
from
a number
of defects'
rvhicrr undermin"' iri-r.i."iific
cred.entiars
and acaclernic
i^tegrity:
the.failure
to
elinrinare
i.uaeq,ruiu",h"";;r;;*inorogical
coirfusicn,.
an excess of descriptivisrn
ancl
current_affairism,
and the enticement"to
resort to icleological
i^tin' ridation.
These
par' oiogie,
ur. r,o**rlt;' ;;;;to^the
malaciies that havJ
afflicted the larger
body
of social sciences
tr,venty
years
agoi but they min' ric the very diseases of post-
communist
poutics.
Ron
""it"
polidcai.scie,-,ce
ii indeed
consistent
rvith the
P:of":t,-u1
capitalist
ur-ra a"n o.' ut;t
p"iit)t
it has ihe mission to encompass
and probe'
For that
matter,
it stiil remains
an oxyllloron'
r
h.i ax l vEBER,..sci ence
as a \rocnti orr".
i n H.I{. CERTI-{, c.\v. \l l LLs
(ecl s and transl ators),
Fron l ' l ex
l \l eLter:
Etrr,..'ilSoclo
li1,:i',O*f"'a
University
Prlsst,Ne;v York' 1975'
F:
147'-
' "
i
Hub"rt BL/.L9CK.
Basj c Di i es' rnt,
s
j r
tfi e Socj J i ""t*Ts-se Publ i cati ons,
Beverl y Hi l l , Cal i f' '
19t4'
Romuiin PoliilcalscienceJterinv "
Vol']l
o
i'le't
o
l$Ql