Democratization and Political Alienation: The Legacies of Post-Communist Transition in Romania
A frequent finding in the political behavior literature is that citizens from Central and Eastern Europe participate less in politics than their western neighbors. While political institutions have democratized and consolidated in some of these countries (i.e. the new EU member states), overall civi...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Oradea, Research Centre on Identity and Migration Studies-RCIMI
2016-11-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Identity and Migration Studies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.e-migration.ro/jims/Vol10_No2_2016/JIMS_Vol10_No2_2016_pp85_108_TATAR.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819128830898470912 |
|---|---|
| author | Marius Ioan TĂTAR |
| author_facet | Marius Ioan TĂTAR |
| author_sort | Marius Ioan TĂTAR |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A frequent finding in the political behavior literature is that citizens from Central and Eastern Europe participate less in politics than their western neighbors. While political institutions have democratized and consolidated in some of these countries (i.e. the new EU member states), overall civic and political activism of citizens from the former communist states knows an obvious setback. This article focuses on Romania and traces the sources of political disengagement to the problems of post-communist transition in this country. The findings reveal that public expectations during the transition processes (i.e. demand side) have largely diverged from the perceived democratic performance of political authorities (i.e. supply side). Thus, the paper identifies widespread disappointments with the perceived outcomes of the political process as a key source of political alienation in post-communist Romania. Pervasive symptoms of political alienation in this country include feelings of political exclusion, helplessness and political ineffectiveness, distrust of politicians and political institutions, lack of interest in politics and the perception of politics as irrelevant to people's lives. All these further hinder citizen participation in the democratic process. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T08:34:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-37b8ba48ad7a4aa39fceb3cd1048b3fa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1843-5610 1843-5610 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T08:34:04Z |
| publishDate | 2016-11-01 |
| publisher | University of Oradea, Research Centre on Identity and Migration Studies-RCIMI |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Identity and Migration Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-37b8ba48ad7a4aa39fceb3cd1048b3fa2022-12-21T18:32:24ZengUniversity of Oradea, Research Centre on Identity and Migration Studies-RCIMIJournal of Identity and Migration Studies1843-56101843-56102016-11-0110285108Democratization and Political Alienation: The Legacies of Post-Communist Transition in RomaniaMarius Ioan TĂTAR0University of OradeaA frequent finding in the political behavior literature is that citizens from Central and Eastern Europe participate less in politics than their western neighbors. While political institutions have democratized and consolidated in some of these countries (i.e. the new EU member states), overall civic and political activism of citizens from the former communist states knows an obvious setback. This article focuses on Romania and traces the sources of political disengagement to the problems of post-communist transition in this country. The findings reveal that public expectations during the transition processes (i.e. demand side) have largely diverged from the perceived democratic performance of political authorities (i.e. supply side). Thus, the paper identifies widespread disappointments with the perceived outcomes of the political process as a key source of political alienation in post-communist Romania. Pervasive symptoms of political alienation in this country include feelings of political exclusion, helplessness and political ineffectiveness, distrust of politicians and political institutions, lack of interest in politics and the perception of politics as irrelevant to people's lives. All these further hinder citizen participation in the democratic process.http://www.e-migration.ro/jims/Vol10_No2_2016/JIMS_Vol10_No2_2016_pp85_108_TATAR.pdfdemocratizationpolitical alienationpost-communismtransitionRomania |
| spellingShingle | Marius Ioan TĂTAR Democratization and Political Alienation: The Legacies of Post-Communist Transition in Romania Journal of Identity and Migration Studies democratization political alienation post-communism transition Romania |
| title | Democratization and Political Alienation: The Legacies of Post-Communist Transition in Romania |
| title_full | Democratization and Political Alienation: The Legacies of Post-Communist Transition in Romania |
| title_fullStr | Democratization and Political Alienation: The Legacies of Post-Communist Transition in Romania |
| title_full_unstemmed | Democratization and Political Alienation: The Legacies of Post-Communist Transition in Romania |
| title_short | Democratization and Political Alienation: The Legacies of Post-Communist Transition in Romania |
| title_sort | democratization and political alienation the legacies of post communist transition in romania |
| topic | democratization political alienation post-communism transition Romania |
| url | http://www.e-migration.ro/jims/Vol10_No2_2016/JIMS_Vol10_No2_2016_pp85_108_TATAR.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mariusioantatar democratizationandpoliticalalienationthelegaciesofpostcommunisttransitioninromania |