Liberalism and radicalism in Romania

Part of a series on
Liberalism
Schools History of liberalism Contributions to liberal theory
Ideas Civil and political rights Cultural liberalism Democracy Liberal democracy Economic liberalism Egalitarianism Free market Free trade Freedom of the press Freedom of religion Freedom of speech Gender equality Harm principle Internationalism Laissez-faire Liberty Market economy Natural and legal rights Negative / positive liberty Open society Permissive society Private property Rule of law Secularism Separation of church and state Social contract Welfare state
Variants Anarcho-capitalism Civic nationalism Classical liberalism Conservative liberalism Democratic liberalism Geolibertarianism Green liberalism Liberal feminism Equity feminism Liberal internationalism Liberal socialism Muscular liberalism Neoliberalism Ordoliberalism Right-libertarianism Radical centrism Radicalism Religious liberalism Christian Islamic Secular liberalism Social liberalism Technoliberalism
People Rifa'a al-Tahtawi Juan Bautista Alberdi Chu Anping Matthew Arnold Raymond Aron Frédéric Bastiat Simone de Beauvoir Jeremy Bentham Isaiah Berlin Eduard Bernstein William Beveridge Norberto Bobbio John Bright Edmund Burke Thomas Carlyle Anders Chydenius Nick Clegg Richard Cobden Marquis de Condorcet Benjamin Constant Benedetto Croce Ludwig Joseph Brentano Jean le Rond d'Alembert Ralf Dahrendorf John Dewey Charles Dickens Denis Diderot Zhang Dongsun Ronald Dworkin Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed Ralph Waldo Emerson Karl-Hermann Flach Milton Friedman John Kenneth Galbraith William Lloyd Garrison José Ortega y Gasset David Lloyd George William Gladstone Friedrich Hayek Thomas Hobbes L.T. Hobhouse John A. Hobson Qin Hui Piero Gobetti Francisco Luís Gomes John Gray Thomas Hill Green Thomas Jefferson Immanuel Kant Namık Kemal John Maynard Keynes Will Kymlicka Auberon Herbert Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse Wilhelm von Humboldt John Locke Salvador de Madariaga James Madison Harriet Martineau Minoo Masani James Mill John Stuart Mill John Milton Ludwig von Mises Donald Barkly Molteno Leo Chiozza Money Charles de Montesquieu José María Luis Mora Chantal Mouffe Dadabhai Naoroji Friedrich Naumann Robert Nozick Bertil Ohlin Thomas Paine Alan Paton Karl Raimund Popper Richard Price Joseph Priestley Guillermo Prieto François Quesnay Ignacio Ramírez Ayn Rand Walther Rathenau John Rawls Joseph Raz David Ricardo Wilhelm Röpke Richard Rorty Carlo Rosselli Murray Rothbard Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Baptiste Say Amartya Sen Li Shenzhi Hu Shih Algernon Sidney Emmanuel Sieyès İbrahim Şinasi Zef Jubani Adam Smith Hernando de Soto Herbert Spencer Anne Louise Germaine de Staël William Graham Sumner R. H. Tawney Johan Rudolf Thorbecke Henry David Thoreau Alexis de Tocqueville Antoine Destutt de Tracy Anne Robert Jacques Turgot Voltaire Lester Frank Ward Max Weber Mary Wollstonecraft Tao Xingzhi Gu Zhun
Organizations Liberal parties Africa Liberal Network (ALN) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDEP) Arab Liberal Federation (ALF) Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) European Democratic Party (EDP) European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) Liberal International Liberal Network for Latin America (RELIAL) Liberal South East European Network (LIBSEEN)
Regional variants Europe Latin America Albania Armenia Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Canada China Chile Colombia Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech lands Denmark Ecuador Egypt Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Iran Israel Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Mexico Moldova Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Norway Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia Senegal Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain South Africa South Korea Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States Uruguay Venezuela Zimbabwe
Related topics Democratic capitalism Democratic education Liberal bias in academia Liberal conservatism Liberal socialism National liberalism Regressive left
Liberalism portal Politics portal

This article gives an overview of liberalism and radicalism in Romania. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in this scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary for a party to have actually labeled itself as a liberal party.

Background

Liberalism has been one of the major forces in Romania, mainly organized in the center-right National Liberal Party. As of 2016 the National Liberal Party is the largest opposition party, with elected members in both houses of the Romanian Parliament, and in the European Parliament. At the European Parliament level, is a member of European People's Party.

The National Liberal Party has historically had many spin-offs and mergers with other center-right parties. Alliance of Liberals and Democrats is such a spin-off that is currently a member of the coalition government.

History

Precursors

• 1822: Ionică Tăutu, representing a group of low-ranking boyars in Moldavia, proposed a constitutional project with republican and liberal principles
• 1834: Ion Câmpineanu leads the liberal opposition to Russian influence in Wallachia's National Assembly
• 1840: Mitică Filipescu led a radical, carbonari-inspired conspiracy in Wallachia
• 1840: Mihail Kogălniceanu published the short-lived Dacia Literară, a Romantic nationalist and liberal magazine, engendering a literary society
• 1843: Nicolae Bălcescu and others led the Frăţia radical conspiracy in Wallachia
• 1845: Radical students from both Wallachia and Moldavia founded Societatea Studenţilor Români (the "Society of Romanian Students") in Paris
• 1848: The unsuccessful Moldavian revolution, during which Moldavian liberals issued a Petition-Proclamation
• 1848: The liberal-minded Blaj Assemblies in Transylvania, in the context of revolutions inside the Austrian Empire
• 1848: The Wallachian revolution – liberals formed a Provisional Government in Bucharest, and were divided over the issue of land reform, with a radical current forming around Bălcescu
• 1856: The liberal current formed the majority in Partida Naţională, a loose group supporting the union of the Danubian Principalities
• 1859: After the union, liberals formed a distinct faction in the Parliament of Romania
• 1864: Domnitor Alexandru Ioan Cuza established a personal regime, in order to pass liberal legislation against mounting opposition
• 1866: Mainstream liberals supported Cuza's removal from the throne; a faction of the liberal current opposed to the new constitution formed the Moldavian-based Fracţiunea liberă şi independentă, influenced by Simion Bărnuțiu and led by Nicolae Ionescu

National Liberal Party

• 1875: The liberal current organised itself in the National Liberal Party (Partidul Naţional-Liberal), led by Ion Brătianu
• 1884: A faction formed the Radical Party, led by C.A. Rosetti and George Panu
• 1899: The National Liberal Party absorbs the right-wing of the Romanian Social-Democratic Workers' Party
• 1918: The Peasants' Party absorbs a left-wing tendency in the National Liberal Party formed around Constantin Stere
• 1929: A faction formed the ⇒ National Liberal Party-Brătianu
• 1931: A faction formed the Liberal Democratic Party, which remained unsuccessful. The same year a majority of the Brătianu party returned in the National Liberal Party
• 1938: The rest of the Brătianu party returned in the National Liberal Party
• 1938: The party is banned by King Carol II
• 1944: The party resumed its activities
• 1944: A faction formed the ⇒ National Liberal Party-Tătărescu
• 1947: The Brătianu faction dissolves itself
• 1990: A party claiming the National Liberal legacy is founded by Radu Câmpeanu
• 1990: A youth faction of the National Liberal Party formed the ⇒ Liberal Party Youth Wing
• 1991: A faction formed the ⇒ National Liberal Party-Democratic Convention
• 1995: The ⇒ Liberal party 1993 merged into the National Liberal Party, the ⇒ National Liberal Party-Câmpeanu seceded from the party
• 1998: The party absorbed the ⇒ Civic Alliance Party
• 2002: The Alliance for Romania (Alianţa pentru România) merged into the National Liberal Party
• 2003: The Union of Right-Wing Forces (Uniunea Forţelor de Dreapta) and the ⇒ National Liberal Party-Câmpeanu merged into the party

National Liberal Party-Brătianu

• 1929: A faction of the ⇒ National Liberal Party formed the National Liberal Party-Brătianu (Partidul Naţional-Liberal-Brătianu)
• 1931: Most of the party returned to the National Liberal Party
• 1938: The party reunited with the National Liberal Party

National Liberal Party-Tătărescu

• 1944: A faction of the ⇒ National Liberal Party formed the National Liberal Party-Tătărescu (Partidul Naţional-Liberal (Tătărescu))
• 1945: The party ran in elections with the Romanian Communist Party
• 1950: The party ceases political activity

From National Liberal Party Youth Wing to Liberal Party 1993

• 1990: A youth faction of the ⇒ National Liberal Party formed the National Liberal Party Youth Wing (Partidul Naţional-Liberal Aripa Tînără)
• 1992: The party was renamed Liberal Party (Partidul Liberal), led by Horia Rusu
• 1993: The Liberal Party merged with the ⇒ National Liberal Party-Democratic Convention and the Group for Moral and Political Reforms into the Liberal Party 1993 (Partidul Liberal 1993), joined by a faction of the ⇒ Civic Alliance Party
• 1995: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

Civic Alliance Party

• 1991: A section of the Civic Alliance non-governmental organization established the Civic Alliance Party (Partidul Alianţa Civică), led by Nicolae Manolescu
• 1993: A faction joined the ⇒ Liberal Party 1993
• 1998: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

National Liberal Party-Democratic Convention

• 1991: A faction of the ⇒ National Liberal Party formed the National Liberal Party-Democratic Convention (Partidul Naţional-Liberal-Convenţia Democrată)
• 1993: The party merged into the ⇒ Liberal Party 1993

National Liberal Party-Câmpeanu

• 1995: A faction of the ⇒ National Liberal Party formed the National Liberal Party-Câmpeanu (Partidul Naţional-Liberal-Câmpeanu)
• 2003: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

Alliance for Romania

• 1997: A faction of the ⇒ Party for Social Democracy of Romania (PDSR) formed the Alliance for Romania (Alianța pentru România)
• 2002: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

Democratic Liberal Party

• 2004: National Liberal Party and Democratic Party form the ⇒ Justice and Truth Alliance and join a government coalition after the 2004 elections
• 2006: Justice and Truth Alliance is disbanded and a faction of the National Liberal Party forms the ⇒ Liberal Democratic Party (Partidul Democrat Liberal)
• 2007: Liberal Democratic Party merges with Democratic Party and forms ⇒ Democratic Liberal Party
• 2014: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

PNL leaders

See also

• History of Romania
• Politics of Romania
• List of political parties in Romania

External links

• (in Romanian) Ioan Scurtu, Theodora Stănescu-Stanciu, Georgiana Margareta Scurtu, Istoria românilor între anii 1918–1940: IV. Partidele politice în primul deceniu interbelic (political programs of major parties in interwar Romania)