30 Years After: Trust’s Labour’s Lost. A Romanian Perspective

After the collapse of the totalitarian communist regime in 1989, Romania seemed to have chosen the path towards a liberal democracy. At declaratory level, the new regime decided to engage on this way, by firstly adopting a new Constitution, meant to enshrine the principles of democracy and rule of law. “Aversive constitutionalism” was a foundation of the new fundamental law, reflected in the choice of the constitutional regime (semi-presidential) and in other democratic mechanisms. One of the main goals of the new political regime, expressed during and after the adoption of the Constitution, was the European integration. The paper will discuss the main provisions of the Constitution designed to build trust in democracy and the rule of law, the contextual details and the role that the Constitution has developed in this regard during the last 29 years.