According to a series of nationally representative surveys conducted in Romania in 2012, the number of citizens that were able to use the left-right topped 74%, which represented a sudden and significant increase compared to all previous measures since 1990, all with less than 50%. Moreover, the proportion of those whose answers showed ideological consistency had a similarly sizeable increase. By analysing the context of this change, our paper aims to investigate the meaning of left and right and to open routes for explorations in party ideological mappings and ideological consistency. Thus we seek to provide answer to the following questions:
What are the main dimensions of competition in Romania?
Are these dimensions different than the classical left-right economic dimension?
In this article we present the main dimensions of competition between party supporters in Romania. We claim that the communist/anticommunist divide is not relevant anymore and that the dimensions of competition between party supporters accentuate economic dimensions. We assert that preferences on economic issues display more consistency than preferences over traditionalism vs libertarianism. Finally we discuss the validity of our results.
This article relies on the results of the "Votulmeu" Voting Advice Applications (VAA) conducted prior to the Romanian national elections in 2012 by Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and its collaborators from the University of Zurich, as well as on representative survey conducted by CSD in October 2012.
