Independents in the local politics of post-communist Romania

Abstract

Aiming at filling a gap in the existing literature, this paper advances the analysis of available alternatives to party representation, namely independent candidatures. For that reason, we consider the context of Eastern Europe, and particularly the last decade when a considerable number of independent candidatures have been advanced. Particularly, the Romanian political system provides one viable example for the examination of independent candidacies, with numerous independents running in the national and local elections which were held after 1989. Therefore, the focal objectives of this text are to identify the peculiarities of this particular breed of politicians, what stimulates them to run independently in elections, and also why certain parts of the electorate choose to vote for independent candidates.