Studia Politica. Romanian Political Science Review vol. XXV, no. 2, 2025

ARTICULI - SPECIAL ISSUE

In Memoriam Daniel Barbu 

coordinated by Andreea Zamfira, Caterina Preda, Sorina Soare 

ANDREEA ZAMFIRA (University of Bucharest), CATERINA PREDA (University of Bucharest), SORINA SOARE (University of Florence),

Introduction to the Special Issue. In Memoriam Professor Daniel Barbu: A Lifetime Pursuit of Bridging History, Art, Philosophy, Theology and Political Thought

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/1

ALEXANDRA ALINA IANCU (University of Bucharest), 

On Being Unconventional: The Politics Behind the Science of Politics

This search note focuses on the initial quest to define political science in Romania. The institutionalization of the science of politics is deeply embedded and conditioned by the transition process and the vagaries of Romanian democratization. At the same time, political science as a domain is primarily defined, in a neo-Weberian note, as distinctively requiring both normative foundations different from other disciplines and processes of professionalization led by political scientists. The analysis focuses on the writings of Daniel Barbu to outline the importance of the politics behind the science of politics and its fragmentary consolidation in the Romanian context. It argues that the initial foundations of political science as a domain continue to haunt more recent debates and vulnerabilities of the study of politics in the Romanian epistemic communities.

Keywords: political science, Romania, neo-Weberian, democratization, professionalization, epistemic communities

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/2

MIRUNA TĂTARU-CĂZĂBAN (University of Bucharest),

Daniel Barbu, Interpreter of the French Catholic Liberals

This article aims to investigate how Daniel Barbu read the work of nineteenth-century French authors who sought to harmonize liberal political views with religious ones: Alexis de Tocqueville, Henri Lacordaire, and Charles de Montalembert. In his last book entitled Pia libertas. Despre formele politice ale libertății creștine (Pia libertas. On the Political Forms of Christian Liberty), the French Catholic liberal movement is analyzed as a “belief made possible by freedom” (Daniel Barbu), but also in its differences compared to the “old” eighteenth century liberal thought. In the context of the relationship between faith and freedom, the three French thinkers argue that “the advent of democracy” would make the “impénitence libérale” even more necessary in front of the danger of modern despotisms. In the nineteenth century, the Christian advocacy for freedom was carried out in the name of an equal freedom and expressed the belief in a democracy that should not be transform into an “apotheosis of the sovereign reason of the sovereign people” (Charles de Montalembert). Daniel Barbu is one of the contemporary political thinkers who sheds light on essential issues of liberal Catholic thought.

Keywords: Daniel Barbu, Catholic Liberalism, Religious Freedom, Church History, Democracy

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/3

ANDREEA ZAMFIRA (University of Bucharest),

Daniel Barbu Beyond Dogmatic Western-Centric and Eastern-Centric Views on Society and Politics

This article aims to summarize and explore four of the main topics addressed by Daniel Barbu in his writings over the last three decades, and, therefore, to foreground his contribution to the restoration of an authentic critical approach to (current) social and political processes. Always careful to avoid monocausal narratives and categorical statements about society and politics, Daniel Barbu sagaciously situated his reasonings and explanations beyond mainstream stereotypical intellectual discourses. Also, without explicitly referring to them, he bypassed Western-centrism and Oriental-centrism, which unfortunately often entrap influential scholars in the social and political sciences literature. The four topics discussed here to highlight Barbu’s endeavor to reaffirm the principle of axiological neutrality are: the articulation of Romanian society (and culture) at the convergence of traditional organicity and rationalizing modernization; the pitfalls of ideological constructs (such as  apotheosis and demonization) in the study of the communist past; the absent res publica and the Romanian intellectual elites’ new propensity for wooden languages and civil religions; the today (post)modern European democracies, as forms of apolitical regimes, and the (plausible) future configuration of non-democratic regimes.

Keywords: Daniel Barbu, political science, (post-)democracy, Western-centrism, Eastern-centrism

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/4

CATERINA PREDA (University of Bucharest),

Daniel Barbu and Anti-Communism

Before becoming a historian, political scientist, and theologian, Daniel Barbu was an art historian. He graduated from the National Institute of Art N. Grigorescu in Bucharest in 1980 and then worked as a museum custodian at the Village Museum and the Museum of Art in Bucharest. This article focuses on Professor Daniel Barbu's early life as an art historian during the communist regime in Romania. While Barbu's political writings emphasized the communist regime's reliance on the assent of intellectuals rather than their dissent, during this period, he himself made courageous gestures against Ceaușescu's policy of destroying Romanian heritage. The article highlights two reports written by Barbu, Octavian Roske, and Radu Ciuceanu in 1981 and 1984. These reports documented the condition of historical monuments under the Ceaușescu regime and were sent to Radio Free Europe. This prompted a Securitate investigation that failed to identify the authors. Moreover, during the post-communist period, Barbu criticized the anticommunism adopted by Romanian intellectuals after the fact.

Keywords: communism, anti-communism, post-communism, Romania, monuments

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/5

DRAGOȘ DRAGOMAN (Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu),

Daniel Barbu and the Dynamics of Post-Communist Transition: The Vanishing Class Analysis

One of Daniel Barbu’s main concerns in the mid-1990s was Romania’s ability to build a true Republic, meaning a dense network of solidarity ties as the very foundation of Romanian society, by turning politics into a quest for the best conditions of living together. Three decades later, his main concern is still valid. Despite noticeable progress in institutional democratization and accelerated marketization during the first two decades of democratic transition, democracy turned out to be rather unstable, with a significant democratic backsliding in recent years. What seems to be still missing is exactly an open and neutral public space, capable of bringing together competing arguments and fostering dialogue, while refraining from the use of authority. Despite the optimistic perspective of the early 1990s, power concentration, intellectual sense of superiority and discourse homogenization progressively led to the current public conformism. Moreover, this intellectual environment fueled what Barbu feared the most, namely the rise of an authoritarian state.

Keywords: neoliberalism, social inequalities, democratic transition, authoritarianism, Romania

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/6

IONUȚ CIPRIAN NEGOIȚĂ (Bucharest University of Economic Studies),

The Fragility of Romanian Democracy: Remembering Professor Daniel Barbu and the Lessons We Failed to Heed

This article examines Daniel Barbu’s contributions to both the theoretical and practical dimensions of democracy, exploring why democracy in Romania appears to be in crisis. Professor Barbu consistently warned about the fragile state of Romanian democracy, emphasizing that it requires continuous care, nurturing, and active engagement from citizens, the academic community, and politicians alike. He argued that democracy is never a finished project — it is always evolving and must be subject to constant scrutiny, critique, and renewal. By revisiting Barbu’s manuscripts and lecture notes, this article analyzes the current state of democracy in Romania, particularly in the context of its recent downgrade to a “hybrid regime” in the 2024 Democracy Index published by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Through this lens, the paper underscores the relevance of Barbu’s warnings and the urgent need to reassess and strengthen Romania’s democratic institutions.

Keywords: democracy, crisis, Daniel Barbu, representation, Romania

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/7

NICOLAE DRĂGUȘIN („Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania; University of Bucharest),

Who Is the Political Subject and What Does it Do? A Critical Journey with Daniel Barbu Through Romanian Constitutionalism on the State, the Citizen, and Political Participation

This study explores the notion of the "political subject" as discussed by Daniel Barbu. Beginning with an analysis of the evolution of the political subject within the context of specific political events, the article's second objective is to challenge Barbu’s theses on the political subject within the constitutional framework of modern Romania (post-1866). Building on Barbu's interpretation of the post-communist Romanian citizen as a state creation, the study poses the following question for future research in its conclusions: Do the peaceful protests of the last 10 years, when considered a constitutional form of political participation, indicate the development of a political society comprised of autonomous citizens who are aware of their rights and willing to assert them in relation to the state?

Keywords: political subject, Daniel Barbu, citizen, state, political participation

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/8

VARIA

LIUTAURAS GUDŽINSKAS (Vilnius University), KAROLIS JONUTIS (Vilnius University),

Are There Any Social-Class Differences Between the Left and the Rest of the Lithuanian Political Parties' Parliamentary Representatives? 

The paper analyzes the composition of the most recent Lithuanian Parliament, elected in 2024, according to criteria such as social class, age, gender, and education. It also compares the current parliament with the previous one, which was formed following the 2020 legislative elections. Both legislatures have completely different parliamentary majorities. In 2020, the center-right Conservatives won the elections and formed a coalition with two minor liberal parties. Meanwhile, in 2024, the pendulum swung to the left, with the center-left Social Democrats achieving a major victory. Thus, the paper aims to investigate whether notable differences exist in the composition of these parliaments regarding the aforementioned criteria. The social-class identity of the members of parliament (MPs) is established by applying Daniel Oesch's conceptual model. We conclude that the consecutive Lithuanian parliaments, as well as the representatives of major political parties despite their rival ideologies, do not differ significantly in terms of social class, gender, age, and other socio-demographic parameters. This may signify similar mechanisms of elite recruitment across the political spectrum. Finally, we examine whether this pattern is observed in other contemporary European democracies.

Keywords: political parties, social class, parliament, Lithuania

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/9

Andrii BAHINSKYI (National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky" Kyiv Polytechnic Institute), Veronika VESELSKA (National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky" Kyiv Polytechnic Institute),

States and International Organizations as Actors in Supporting Ukraine in the War

Russia’s attack on Ukraine turned into a full-scale war in 2022. Ukraine is actively developing its foreign policy, cooperating with the governments of different countries and international organizations. Meanwhile, these events also affect other countries, their economic and societal structures. Several million Ukrainians have been forced to emigrate, and while adapting their lives abroad, they also impact the host societies. That is why the investigation and the coverage of political aspects of the international policy of Ukraine is an acute and relevant topic. Additionally, this article contributes to understanding that humanitarian aid is as crucial for war resilience as military assistance. International organizations, including the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Red Cross Society, and the United Nations (UN), are actively involved in supporting Ukrainians both in the country and abroad. Hence, the aim of the article is to cover the support of other countries and organizations for Ukraine. Such support is a part of international policy commitments. The paper makes an important contribution to the understanding of political processes involving international assistance in the context of various state policies concerning the Russian Ukrainian war.

Keywords: Ukraine, State, Security, Aid, Armed Conflict, Humanitarian Support, International Politics, International Organizations

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/10

JÚLIA KROMKOVÁ (University of Economics in Bratislava), ĽUBOMÍR ČECH (University of Economics in Bratislava),
Quo Vadis, Central Asia? A Search for Sovereignty Amid Global Power Shifts

This article examines the intersection of political and economic factors in the Central Asian states through the prism of ensuring national interests amidst the current geopolitical developments. Against the backdrop of Russia's waning global influence, and China´s growing economic presence in Central Asian economies, this region has once again become into a key link in global competition. The main objective of this article is to trace the “renaissance of Central Asia” by addressing how Central Asia's historical trajectory impacts sustainable regional cooperation and how current geopolitical strategies of the Central Asian states shape long-term stability, economic sovereignty, and resilience of the region to external pressures and changing international context. The article takes a qualitative approach to assess how regional actors address current political, security, and economic challenges. The paradigm shift is illustrated by case studies of the most populous regional actor, Uzbekistan, as the "lost heart" of Central Asia.  The study also highlights how competing influences from Russia, China, or Turkey, redefine the strategic orientation of the region through historical links and contemporary policy analysis. The findings reveal that the future of the region is dependent upon the five republics´ inclusive ability to reconcile regional interests, safeguard national sovereignty, and manage political-security risks amid global power shifts.

Keywords: Central Asia, regional development, national interests, regional security, economic sovereignty

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/11

ANNALES

***Chronology of the Romanian Political Life, April 01, 2025 – September 31, 2025

Under the coordination of Domnica Gorovei, Alexandru-Cristian Găzdaru, Teodora Lovin, Mihai Niculache, Luca Tulvan, and Andrei-Laurențiu Zepiși, the following students of the Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest, have contributed to the chronology (press monitoring and/or translation): Cosmina-Nicoleta Dumitru, Robert-Marian Grincov, Cristiana Ozon, Iulia-Maria Păun, Alexandra Polcovnicu, Adrian-Ionuț Racheru, Miruna Sobec, Maria-Magdalena Stan, Diana-Elena Ștefan, Maria-Raluca Teodorescu.

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/12

RECENSIONES

SABRINA P. RAMET, LAVINIA STAN, East Central Europe since 1989: Politics, Culture, and Society (1st ed.), Oxford, Routledge, 2025 

(CRISTINA STOENESCU, University of Bucharest)

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/13

STRID LORENZ, LISA H. ANDERS, DIETMAR MÜLLER, JAN NĚMEC, Narrating the Rule of Law. Patterns in East Central European Parliaments, Cham, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2024

(ALEXANDRA OPREA, University of Bucharest)  

DOI: 10.62229/sprps25-2/14

Studia Politica. Romanian Political Science Review, Vol. 25, No. 2 (2025)

DOI: doi.org/10.62229/sprps25-2