Institutional Choices and Weaknesses After 1989

The December 1989 revolution allowed for a return to democracy, almost five decades after Romania turned dictatorial. Romanians rejected communist censorship, repression, and surveillance, but were unsure what the new democracy should consist of, given the diversity of Western models. After 1989, the public debate over the return to monarchy revolved exclusively around the person of King Michael and ignored the democratic virtues and shortcomings of contemporary constitutional monarchies. To obviate the return to monarchy, the National Salvation Front and Ion Iliescu recognized Romania as a republic. Romania chose a French-inspired semi-presidential system that allows the president to dominate the government structure as a powerful head of state, while also involving voters in the election of both the president and the Parliament in separate elections. The president must share decision-making responsibility with the prime minister and the cabinet.