Much Contest,Little Censure: Motions in the Romanian Parliament (1989–2012)

No-confidence motions introduced in the Romanian parliament in 1989–2012 represented important tools of legislative control over the executive. Simple and censure motions employed by the opposition against the government tackled the most important issues affecting the country, the government's perceived failure to enact its programme, and areas considered a priority by the opposition. During the first 23 years of post-communism as many as 140 no-confidence motions were introduced, but only 13 were adopted, of which only two unseated the cabinet. Nevertheless, motions gave the opposition public attention and an occasion to present its point of view.     

Romanian political science since 1989

Abstract. In a relatively short period of time, Romanian political science has made considerable progress, moving from virtual obscurity to unchallenged local prominence. This article examines the efforts to date to institutionalize political science as a separate teaching and research discipline by presenting recently established political science university–level programs, the major groups of authors carrying out research on political phenomena and the recurrent themes emerging from relevant literature. Though the present article is concerned mainly with current developments, occasional references to the political science's position during the communist period are also made.     

Vigilante justice in post-communist Europe

Five cases in which the names of former secret informers who supplied information to the communist secret political police were unofficially disclosed are discussed in terms of the motivations of their authors, their timing relative to 1989 and their countries’ lustration and file access legislation, and the information they make available to the general public. After contrasting them with civil society efforts to promote transitional justice and unofficial truth projects, it becomes evident that these unofficial disclosures were animated by revenge as much as the quest for unveiling the truth about communist repression.     

Reviews

Martin McCauley, Who's Who in Russia since 1900. London: Routledge, 1997, xxiv + 268 pp., £12.99 p/b.

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Making the best of a difficult situation: Divorce processes and family mediation

Book reviewed in this article:
Kenneth Kressel , The Process of Divorce
John M. Haynes , Divorce Mediation
John Allen Lemmon , Family Mediation Practice     

Reckoning with the Communist Past in Romania: A Scorecard

During the first two decades following the collapse of the communist regime, Romania has reckoned with the human rights infringements perpetrated from 1945 to 1989 with the help of a range of official and unofficial, judiciary and non-judiciary, backward- and forward-looking methods pursued by a variety of state and non-state actors. This article summarises the progress registered to date in court trials, lustration, access to secret files, property restitution, the truth commission, rehabilitation of former political prisoners, compensation to victims and their descendants, the opinion tribunal, forensic investigations, rewriting history books, unofficial truth projects and memorialisation.