The Romanian Constitutional Discourse Between Modernization And Europenization

This paper is a critical view on the constitutional dynamics in the Romanian public space, reviewing the constitutions from 1866 until now, with a particular outlook on the present constitution, the one from 1991, revised in 2003. Every text has had a short life and a lot of amendments, a fact worthy of our reflection. Starting from the hypothesis that every constitutional text is an answer to a determinate fear, or at least to certain concerns and desires specific to the historical moment, I have explored the weaknesses and gaps or deficiencies capable of explaining public behaviour, public constitutional discourse and Romanian constitutional alternatives as answers to these issues. In this context, some features will be analysed such as the ambivalence of tendencies, the continuous oscillation to the opposite poles, the recurrence of representations, etc. Amid all these antinomies and paradoxes, Romanians should find a proper way to behave in the constitutional space, even by rethinking democratic values in the light of national needs and in a context where modernization and Europeanization are important aims for us to achieve.