Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism, America.gov, as part of its feature “The Unfinished Work of Democracy,” is asking academics and journalists from the United States and elsewhere to comment on the challenges to democracy that still lay ahead for countries of the former Eastern Bloc. What follows are their responses – and yours are welcome as well.

In December 1989 Romanians revolted against Nicolae Ceausescu’s decrepit Stalinist dictatorship. Many thought that the upheaval and the bloodshed that cost around 1,400 lives would result in a complete divorce with the past. Instead, the new regime, headed by former propaganda apparatchik Ion Iliescu, tried to maintain authoritarianism under the facade of democratic rhetoric. In 1996, a new president, Emil Constantinescu, was elected as candidate of the umbrella coalition called the Democratic Convention. Reforms were initiated, Romania pursued a decisively pro-Western foreign policy, and many hoped that those changes would result in an unequivocal democratic breakthrough.

In 2000, Iliescu made a political comeback, and the country was governed by his party, the Social Democrats, in fact a corporation with mafia-like business tentacles.

Traian Basescu won the 2004 election with a platform that promised eradication of corruption, modernization of political institutions, economic growth, and strengthening of the rule of law. A former sea captain (during the Ceausescu era), Basescu had served as minister of transportation and mayor of Bucharest. Responding to demands from civil society, he adopted de-communization as a major political goal. In April 2006 he formed a presidential commission to examine the four decades of communist rule, and in December 2006, in spite of rabid opposition from communist nostalgists and extreme nationalists, he delivered an historical speech condemning the communist regime as illegitimate and criminal.

Political factionalism and resistance from oligarchic groups, irritated by Basescu’s innovative initiatives, created a continuous state of tension between the president and his vociferous critics. Presidential elections will take place in November 2009. Belonging to EU and NATO has helped Romania economically, politically, and in terms of security. The main challenges for the future are linked to judiciary reforms, the need to rejuvenate the political elite, to overcome a widespread climate of cynicism, to fight corruption, and to continue the confrontation with the totalitarian traumatic past. The most important challenges deal with the perpetuation of corruption, endless bickering within political parties, and the refusal to allow for a general restructuring of the political system. One of Traian Basescu’s main goals for a second mandate is to organize a national debate to result in the adoption of a new constitution. This challenge is directly linked to the need to ensure thorough judicial reforms that would guarantee the independence of judges from political pressures. Traian Basescu strove to pursue this agenda, but he encountered adamant opposition from political personalities and economic magnates who resented the president’s anti-corruption drive. The courageous Minister of Justice Monica Macovei was forced to resign in 2007. Last but not least, restoring trust in political institutions remains an urgent challenge.

Learn more about Professor Vladimir Tismaneanu (PDF).