Building liberal theory in the age of modern constitutionalism: judicial interpretations and political thinking in Emanoil Chinezu's studies.

Gherghe, Cosmin Lucian

The beginnings of the Romanian constitutional life are to be found in an aristocratic-democratic constitution draft from 1802, inspired by the Declaration of 1789 and the first French constitution of 1791, a draft in which the small boyars ruled in favour of an aristocratic republic, based on the consultation and the collaboration of "all the people" (Banciu, 1996: 22).

In the Romanian society he made himself well-known with a special force due to a group of politicians whose views enjoyed a strong popular adhesion, most of them standing out through an intense activity before the revolutions of 1848. The liberal ideas existed within the programs of certain secret political societies, conspiratorial groups and cultural societies, which pursued the political, economic and cultural emancipation of the country.

These reforming and constitutional ideas and principles begin to take more shape within the memoirs and drafts in the years 1821-1822: the Revolution of Tudor Vladimirescu, the Hetaerists action and restoring the autochthonous domains, and afterwards to be included in the Carvunari Constitution, drawn up by the small and middle boyars in Moldavia led by Ionica Tautul, constitution that A.D. Xenopol, the author of the discovery of this document original treaty--characterized as being "the first political manifestation of the liberal thinking", and "the first embodiment of a constitutional thinking in the Romanian Principalities" (Xenopol, 2005: 90), taking into account that its text clearly stated "the constitutional principle: the rule of law", meaning that the prince's authority was limited and subordinated to the representative body--the National Assembly.

The Carvunari draft of 1822, improperly named "constitution" announced some of the modern constitutionalism principles, principles unknown until that moment in the Romanian Principalities: the respect for property, individual freedom, freedom of work and trade; ensuring people's honour; equality before the laws etc. (Xenopol, 2005: 9193), which were inspired by the French Revolution ideology.

Following the entry into force of the Organic Regulations of 1831-1832 the Romanian Principalities shall have the use of the tool intended to provide a regulatory framework for governance, due to which the State, in its modern meaning, is created along with its specific mission and functions.

The Organic Regulations resulted from a collaboration of the Petersburg cabinet with the committees consisting of the great Wallachian and Moldavian boyars and integrate the previous projects of the State life organisation representing, according to Nicolae Iorga, a true constitution having the purpose of "achieving, according to the interests of the great boyars of the programme sustained by the all levels boyars and especially the small boyars, starting from the 18th century" (Iorga, 1990: 52). The Regulations conferred to both Romanian Principalities the same political organization.

The Regulations do not constitute a law in order to meet all the aspirations and the needs of the Romanian society. They were not created following the classic pattern of the western constitutions being rather constitutional and administrative codes than true constitutions (Draganu, 1991: 39). Although they have the value of fundamental law they cannot be considered as a constitution because they were adopted with the approval of the foreign powers, Russia and Turkey, without the consultation and the consent of the people and they do not contain provisions relating to rights and freedoms.

The Organic Regulations represent an important moment in the history of the Romanian constitutionalism even if they are not "constitutions", we can assert they have a constitutional nature as they include provisions necessary for the organisation of the State institutions. Taking into consideration the constitutional evolution as a whole, the position held by the "Organic Regulations can be assessed starting from the occurrence of some principles specific to the constitutional architecture" (Stanomir, 2005: 18-19).

The two Regulations both from Moldavia and from the Romanian Country provide for education to be taught in the national language because it would make it easier for schoolchildren to improve their learning of the homeland language, but also because all public affairs were to be treated in this language. Another important article introduced in the Organic Regulations is Article 426 which states that the establishment of a joint commission from the government of both principalities, aiming to transform into one body the laws of Moldavia and Wallachia, the identity of the legislation being one of the most suited means to fulfill this moral unification articles which by the common statutes introduced gave new possibilities to organize the fight for national unity.

Taking part in an active manner in the revolution of 1848 in the Romanian Country, Emanoil Chinezu stated that the revolution of 1848 was made by the nation, by a few men, like D. Heliade and the nation is rightly credited as one which has molded itself with suffering and sighs, with its aspirations. He emphasizes that an important role during the revolution had the liberals and the nationals both in the Romanian Country, Moldavia and over the Carpathians, many good and liberal thinking men who took part in the foundation of a provisional government. By the revolution of 1848, it was shown even to the most blinded, that liberalism, in its entire splendor, was coming out of all the pores of Romania. All social classes took part in the consolidation of liberalism from the highest to the most modest.

One of the fundamental constitutional principles introduced by the Organic Regulations is the State organization based on the principle of the separation of powers. The separation of powers introduces, unlike the Old Regime, a democracy making possible the occurrence, even in an embryonic form, of the classical powers system, the executive power was entrusted to the Prince, the legislative power was jointly exercised by the Prince and the National Assembly (the Parliament), and the judicial power was held by the courts of law, the county courts, the appeal courts in Iasi and Bucharest and the Great judicial Committee as the final court competent to hear civil, commercial or criminal cases. For the first time it was provided by art. 212 "the separation of the executive and judicial powers necessary for the good organization, for regulating the disputes and for defending the individual rights, these two executive branches shall be different from this point forward" (Stanomir, 2005: 19). The introduced judicial reform established a network of well structured courts, each of them with clear and accurately formulated competences missions which will remain valid, with minor changes regarding the competences and titles, until the middle of the 20th century.

From the period 1831-1840 are known many memoirs and reform drafts of the Wallachian and Moldavian boyars culminating with the draft drawn up on November 5th/17th 1838 by the "National Party" from Wallachia, under the signature of the boyar Ion Campineanu where is presented a series of legal requirements, which are also found in the provisions of the Constitution of 1866. The undeniable difference between the Constitution draft drawn up by Ion Campineanu and the Organic Regulations lies primarily in the article which stipulates that: "all the Romanian people are equal before the law", the admissibility in the "civilian and military positions" as well as "the individual freedom is guaranteed" corresponding to the "individual freedom" after 1866 (Stanomir, 2005: 24). The document provided as well the freedom of printing and speech: the introduction of the universal suffrage; the legislative power should be held by the sovereign etc.

Therefore, the two documents drawn up by the National Party, the Unification and Independence Act and the Romanian sovereigns appointment Act, included a real constitution draft, based on the principles of the political and economic liberalism, in line with the local memoirs, but also the synchronization with the French-Belgian line (Bodea, 1982: 120 and fl.). The text of the constitution draft includes two versions that are juxtaposed: one in Romanian language, and the other one in French language, between which the differences are very small. It should be noted that this draft, written in Romanian and French, was taken over by the Romanian revolutionaries from 1848, in the Izlaz Proclamation, by Mihail Kogalniceanu in "The Desires of the National Party" and later by Emanoil Chinezu in the elaboration of the constitution draft of 1857.

Therefore, the decade that preceded the revolution of 1848 witnessed numerous actions that contributed to the work of the national regeneration of all the territories inhabited by the Romanians.

The revolutions of 1848 in the Romanian Principalities joined the wave of revolutionary movements that included the entire Europe. "The political instabilities present in 1848 across Europe--shows Emanoil Chinezu--found us as well willing to receive them with open arms [...]. Therefore the entire country received our revolution of 1848 with no surprise, as something very natural and with general acclamation" (Chinezu, 1873: 183).

The Constitution draft elaborated by Mihail Kogalniceanu in 1848 in Cernaut, proclaimed Moldavia as a "constitutional State" with internal autonomy, the legislative power was to be exercised by the National Assembly composed of deputies appointed by poll tax vote, and the executive power was entrusted to the Prince who benefited from lack of political responsibility for its actions. The person of the Prince should be inviolable. The judicial power was entrusted to courts, the judges being independent. The draft also included a modern regulation of the citizens' rights and freedoms, following the French constitutional model (Ionescu, 1997: 26). Furthermore, among the objectives included therein, a special importance was given to the independence and national unity. But the most important document of the revolutions of 1848 was the Izlaz Proclamation (June 9th/21st 1848). Its importance results from the incorporation, for the first time, of a set of principles of constitutional essence: the principles of freedom, equality of political rights, independence, undertaken by a government and from which resulted its political legitimacy. The proclamation included 21 points providing among others: the dissolution of noble ranks and censorship, the freedom of speech (freedom of printing), the adoption of the national tricolour flag with the slogan "Justice, Fraternity", the instruction generalization, the abolition of the capital punishment, emancipation of day labourers, gypsies liberation and the requirement for the religious tolerance, the maintenance of the national elective monarchy "The responsible Prince elected for five years and searched in all the society's layers", the legislative power was entrusted to a general assembly, "composed of the representatives of all the layers of the society", modernization of the administration and legislation etc.". It was also stipulated, in art. 22, the immediate convening of a Constituent Extraordinary General Assembly elected with the attribution of drawing-up the "country Constitution based on the 21 articles declared by the Romanian people" (Draganu, 1991: 81-86). The Revolution of 1848 brought to light the first embodiment of the liberal and egalitarian ideas.

The independence, the state unity, the democratic reform and modernization of the Romanian society enter a new stage after the end of the war between Russia and Turkey concluded by the Treaty of Paris of March 18th /30th 1856 which establishes, among others, their organization and a new international status of the Romanian Principalities.

According to article 22 of the Treaty the two principalities remained under the suzerainty of the Porte and under the collective guarantee of the Guaranteeing Powers (Turkey, France, England, Prussia, Austria, Russia, Sardinia), no unilateral action of any power being allowed. The Porte undertook to observe and maintain for the

Principalities "an independent and national administration as well as complete freedom of worship, of the law, trade and navigation" (art. 23 of the Treaty).

From the constitutional point of view art. 24 of the Treaty provided the convening of each Principality of an ad-hoc Committee as a representative body of the "Interests of all the society's layers. These committees shall be called on to express the people's wishes in terms of the final organization of the Principalities" (Ionescu, 1997: 28).

In 1857 ad-hoc Meetings are convened, their role being consultative. Nevertheless, the activity developed by the ad-hoc Meetings was organized following the model of true deliberative assemblies, ignoring their qualification by the firman as mere expressions of the statuses, highlighting the need to adopt the parliamentary regime as a basis for organizing the Romanian countries and state unity. The establishment of the parliamentary regime within the Principalities shall become a complete reality only after the period of application of the Convention in Paris in 1858, the document intended to regulate the domestic and international status of the two Romanian Principalities.

Since 1856 the political vocabulary of the Romanian intellectuals will include more often the term "constitution". The end of Russian protectorate and its replacement with the collective protectorate of the European powers participating in the Congress, imposed without saying the change of their status of internal organization, the issue of the unification between Moldavia and Wallachia, and at the same time the position of the great powers towards this historic act of the Romanian people. Furthermore, we shall make reference to a less known constitution draft, drawn up by the lawyer and politician Emanoil Chinezu (1817-1878). We owe to Emanoil Chinezu the elaboration of a Constitution Draft entitled the Reintegrated Romanian Constitution or Skitza for a Constitution in Romania, published in 1857, the elaboration, adoption of this fundamental document representing in his opinion the first and the most important objective of the State (Chinezu, 1857). The work Romanian Constitution was printed in Brussels using Slavic letters and contained the following chapters: Foreword, Skitza for a Constitution in Romania, Introduction, Government, the responsibility of the government representatives, Application of the preceding theory to Romanian Institutions, the Constitution Drafting, General Provisions, the Constitutive Assembly, the Prince, the Court, the Senate, the Judges.

Emanoil Chinezu thought that "the only and first concern (of the government a/n) must be to give the country a constitution [...] the convention is not a constitution, but a diplomatic document of European public law by which, integrating our State within the European political republic, shall be recognized the right to elaborate a constitution as free as it will desire [...]. No person has the right to give us a constitution. The right to give us a Constitution is ours." (Chinezu, 1866: 191). Strongly influenced by the French ideas, Chinezu stated that "no country could exist" without freedom, equality and fraternity. That is why he sets family and property as the basis for elaborating the constitution draft. The property in the sense of having an intimate relation with freedom. The person who attacks property attacks freedom and vice versa. According to Emanoil Chinezu's vision the general principles of the country shall be "Freedom, Equality, Fraternity, family and property" (Chinezu, 1866: 35).

In drawing up the Constitution draft Emanoil Chinezu was influenced by Benjamin Constant (1767-1830), the main theorist of the modern French political liberalism, exceeding him in terms of vision and thinking.

In Emanoil Chinezu's conception, an indispensable condition of the State was sovereignty. All the State powers must come from the nation, which means that the holder of sovereignty was the nation.

The people (nation a/n) cannot directly exercise the legislative power, nor the executive or judicial power and therefore it must appoint pursuant to elections in "electoral colleges" the deputies and senators. The National Party continued its vigorous action to ensure the presence of unionists representatives in the Ad Hoc Assembly. Since the future of the Romanian Country was in question, Emanoil Chinezu advocated for uniting all political groups to support the idea of the Unification of the principalities. Under these circumstances--shows Emanoil Chinezu--there are not and there can not be parties, the object (the unification--our note) that concerns us does not divide itself, but brings us together, unites us, inspires the same principles to us, the same determination, the Romanian ideal being above the interest of the party. The unification was considered the only way to achieve social and economic progress of the Romanian countries, the only way by which one could gain both our outer and inner security. In the Chinezu's liberal thinking, the body of the State legislature was conceived as an expression of the national will, and the government as an emanation of the majority of the representatives of all social classes. The legislative body of the country must be seriously reformed by choosing new items, called in to participate in the reorganization of the State. Pleading for the principle of the separation of powers within the State, the Romanian lawyer confers to the executive power representative, either king, prince or "whatever else", the duty to be "the moral creator of the necessary reforms, a friend of the progress, a protector of the suffering persons" (Gherghe, 2009: 192).

Emanoil Chinezu sustains the separation of the powers in the State, showing that "there are three powers that constitute the government: the legislative power, the judicial power and the executive power; the legislative power in its exercise is entirely independent; it only depends on the sovereignty of the people whose will has to express". The legislative power is formed from the delegates elected by "the citizens sent by the electoral colleges, acting as the people legislators, for a term of five years". They initiate draft laws that are sent "by their representatives in a Constituent Assembly". When the Constituent Assembly adopts them, these drafts become laws without any penalty from the Prince and shall be called constitutive laws. The press, the meeting and the petition, as sovereign rights, are independent and they are subordinated to their legislative authority.

The executive power is part of the sovereign activity that gives effectiveness to the decisions of other powers. According to Chinezu, the executive power "lies in a Senate appointed by the Prince from the nation core--the Senate, is therefore, the vigilant sentinel of the country" (Chinezu, 1857: 78). The senators are by excellence the defenders of the constitution.

With particular competence, the lawyer Emanoil Chinezu presents the principle of the judicial independence towards the other powers, the essential feature of a representative or constitutional political system. The judicial power had to be a part of the sovereign activity intended to maintain all the particular activities within the legality circle. It is entrusted to a body formed of judges appointed by the Prince. A special chapter presents the responsibility of the government and of the Prince. Emanoil Chinezu pays a particular attention to the State and to the modalities which lead to its strengthening and development. The State is even more powerful, stronger, more prosperous and more sustainable--wrote Emanoil Chinezu in his book How to give Romania to the hands of Romanians, foreshadowing the policy <though ourselves>--as it will satisfy more completely the moral and material interests of the members of the society it protects, or if you want it, in a more general manner, as it achieves in a greater measure the social interests.

Extensively presenting, in the chapter "General provisions", the rights of the Romanians, Emanoil Chinezu foresaw the most important and fundamental freedoms, such as: the freedom of conscience, of the press, of education, of association and meetings, while abolishing the privileges and the titles of foreign nobility, "no Romanian will be able to wear foreign signs or titles". There were guaranteed the inviolability of the person and of residence, the equality of all the Romanian citizens before the law, "the law is for all the Romanians", a Romanian person can only be "condemned for offense committed" (Chinezu, 1857: 96), was the author's conclusion. Therefore, the guiding principle of the civil law is, for Chinezu, that according to which property represents freedom.

Chinezu, as Montesquieu as well, declared himself the partisan of the constitutional monarchy, of a regime in which the Prince does not hold the entire power, but it shares it with the National Assembly, representing the legislative power, and with the judicial power, while he holds only the executive power. In these circumstances, the State is no longer ruled by one single person, as is the case in the despotic regime, but by a certain number of persons that are neutralized. Then it follows the actual elaboration of the constitution draft. Emanoil Chinezu was noticed through the militancy of his position, through its historical and political view, being situated in the most radical wing of the Romanian liberalism in its first constitution and affirmation process. He states that liberalism in Romania is not dated starting today, nor is introduced by the modern ideas, it is much older and more original on our land than is generally believed. In his work "Adevaru-lu asupra caderii ministerului Bratianu (The truth on the fall of the Bratianu ministry) Emanoil Chinezu tells an interesting history of the emergence and development of the Liberal Party starting with the revolution of Tudor Vladimirescu and up to 1872, saying that the Romanian national party was constituted for the first time as a rising opposition against the Greek item and the first victory of the Romanian in the political area was the downfall of the Phanariot reigns.

In his study, Emanoil Chinezu concluded that only when the Liberal Party will be organized on moral principles not on interest, the three factors of human civilization: Order, Progress and Freedom will contribute to the development of the Romanian society. He argued the need for a democratic Republic, which he considered to be the most appropriate to the Romanian realities. According to his view, the Republic represented the "best form of government for Romania. Democracy represented equality as the Republic was the freedom itself. Only a democratic Republic or if you want a democracy in the Republic, appreciated Chinezu, can achieve freedom for all; that is at the same time, and equality and freedom in the broadest sense, in the truest meaning of morality and merit, in due measure for humanity. Convinced and ardent follower of the democratic Republic, of the propagation of the idea of sovereignty, Emanoil Chinezu wrote: The Universal vote, the equality of the Public Assembly, the democracy upon the establishment of the power of the State and the permanent electivity of the heads of the governments which we must have and which is the delegation of the Public powers, that it the Republic. Emanoil Chinezu is one of the leading personalities which is representative of that period, an outstanding exponent of the spirit of political and cultural transformation that characterizes the decade before the revolution of 1848.

The political activity developed within the liberal trend, more sustained or more balanced, according to the time that he did it, had a special importance in the battle plan for the development of the national consciousness, of the spirit of solidarity and unity, as he is considered the founder of the Romanian political liberalism of the mid-nineteenth century because of his contribution to the formation and spreading of the liberal values. In all of his writings, Emanoil Chinezu has fought for the Freedom of the press; the freedom of gatherings; the freedom in elections; the freedom in the public education which implicitly lead to all political freedoms, so necessary for the democratization of the country.

Approaching the principles that are applied to the individual within a representative political system, pointing out that by establishing such a system, anywhere "the privilege and the exclusivism had to stop", Emanoil Chinezu presents a review of the main rights and freedoms of the citizens representative for a democratic system: the right to vote starting from the age of 25 years old, and to exert power starting with the age of 30 years old; no preventive arrest can be longer than three months without a court decision according to all forms; no imprisonment can be longer than 30 years; no residence can be violated without a written court decision; a Romanian citizen can only be "condemned for the offense he committed; the People exercise its freedom making use of the press, meetings or organizations; all the valid and independent Romanians are citizens; the Prince is entitled to appoint a regent from the Senate; only the Prince bears the title of "His Majesty" as he is the only prince in the country (Chinezu, 1857: 18-20).

Emanoil Chinezu provided the following constitutional powers of the state: executive, legislative and judicial. Their organization and functioning relied on the principle of the relative separation, which also implies the constitutional powers hierarchy and their collaboration within the limits set by the constitutional act. The prerogatives and the responsibilities of the Prince were specifically expressed in the Constitution draft elaborated by Emanoil Chinezu. In the name of the Prince was set the law, administration and court decision were made, the Prince had to be Romanian and a Romanian citizen and he was elected for life by the people by means of the Constituent Assembly. His person was sacred and inviolable. The Constitution granted the Prince the privilege to rule and the right to govern. Therefore, the constitutional monarchy became the source of the internal stability within the State. According to Emanoil Chinezu, the legislative power of the country should be entrusted to the Chambers of Tribune. It must be composed of 100 members who had the responsibility to draw up law drafts and to elaborate the State budget. Emanoil Chinezu gave great importance to the Senate which represented the executive and administrative power of the country. The senators had to be "the defenders of the country and of the Constitution". In the Senate was put "all the care and solicitude for the improvements and the establishments of all that is necessary for the happiness, glory and power of the Romanians country". The senators had to be elected by the Prince for life. A senator could only be arrested following the decision of the Senate.

Regarding the judges, Emanoil Chinezu suggested two courts: Courts of first instance and the High Court, whose decisions were without appeal. The legislative chamber had the duty to determine the courts number and the staff as the need should be. Chinezu stated that "no person should be punished in an arbitrary manner without having been judged; judged only by virtue of the laws decided and following the prescribed forms". A constitution should represent the guarantee for these principles.

The constitution draft initiated by Emanoil Chinezu in 1857 was in some aspects influenced by the French constitution of 1852 and the Belgian constitution of 1831, as well as by the Belgian electoral law.

The draft completely expresses the national political thinking in the middle of the 19th century and represents an attempt to grant the country a constitutional foundation.

It lays down the principle of the rule of law, of the observance of the individual rights and freedoms, of the idea of political representation within the National Assembly of the Country. It represented the passage from the unicameral system, stipulated by the Organic Regulation and the Paris Convention, to the bicameral system, the legislative power being collectively exercised by the Prince, the Collective Assembly and the Senate.

Emanoil Chinezu also paid particular attention to the electoral law. He suggested "a national electoral law" by which "we should call to elections, by universal suffrage, the entire nation that can read and write" (Chinezu, 1869: 61).

The introduction of the universal suffrage replacing the electoral law represented for Emanoil Chinezu "a clear revolution: it means substituting democracy to oligarchy" (Chinezu in Gherghe, 2009: 200).

"The citizens gather in country colleges in order to elect their delegates for the constituent power and for public authorities, was stated in art. 28 of the General Provisions, and art. 4 of the chapter "The Constituent Assembly" mentioned: "Each college elects any number of delegates that are sent to the Capital in order to form the Constituent Assembly".

The Constitution drawn up by Emanoil Chinezu stipulated a legislative power organization that resembles the one contained in the Developer Statute of the Paris Convention.

The executive and administrative power of the country was held by the Senate. The senators were elected for life by the Prince and took care of the laws constitutionality control, as in the time of Al. I. Cuza and represented the second chamber of the Parliament. The State budget was exclusively adopted by the Chamber of Tribunes (Deputies Assembly), this right resulted from the English constitutional law, incorporated in the French, Belgian Constitution and afterwards in the Romanian Constitution of 1866.

In conclusion, the Constitution drawn up by Emanoil Chinezu was based on the principle of the separation of powers within the State, the legislative power was collectively exercised by "the national representation" and the Prince, the executive power being entrusted to the Senate, while the judicial power was exercised by courts and tribunals.

Just as the Paris Convention of 1858, it was provided an elective, but not foreign monarchy, the Prince had to be a Romanian citizen.

The value of this document lies in the attempt to present in a new form, influenced by the West spirit, the old traditions of the Country and the desiderata constantly expressed by the nobility in its various memoirs. The author of the constitution draft pursued the organisation of a State subject to the rule of law, founded on the principles of the French revolution and the old Romanian settlements, in order to give the Country a Constitution.

With its limits and errors, the Romanian Constitution drawn up by Emanoil Chinezu in 1857 created the general framework for the development of a modern national State.

References:

Banciu, A. (1996), The History of the Constitutional Life in Romania (1866-1991), Bucharest: Sansa Press.

Bodea, C. (1982), 1848 to Romanians. A history in Dates and Testimonies, vol.I, Romanian Academy Press.

Chinezu, E. (1857), The Reintegrated Romanian Constitution, Brussels: E. Glyot&Stafluaux fils Press.

Chinezu, E. (1866), Letter to the Newspaper Editors in Bucharest, Debates or Political Studies on Romania, Bucharest.

Chinezu, E. (1869), How to entrust Romania to Romanians, Craiova: Theodor Macinca and Iosif Samitca Press.

Chinezu, E. (1873), The Truth about the Fall of the Bratianu Ministry, Bucharest: National Printing.

Chinezu, E. Letter addressed to Mr. Radion, in Gherghe, C.L. (2009), Emanoil Chinezu, Politician, Lawyer and Historian, Craiova: Sitech Press.

Draganu, T. (1991), Beginnings and Development of the Parliamentary Regime in Romania, Cluj: Dacia Press.

Gherghe, C.L. (2009), Emanoil Chinezu, Politician, Lawyer and Historian, Sitech Press, Craiova.

Ionescu, C. (1997), Constitutional Law and Political Institutions. The Romanian Constitutional System. vol. II, Bucharest: Lumina Lex Press.

Iorga, N. (1990), History of the Romanian Constitution, in Constitution of 1923 Debated by Contemporaries, Bucharest: Humanitas Press.

Stanomir, I. (2005), Freedom, Law and Justice. A History of the Romanian Constitutionalism, Bucharest: Polirom Press.

Xenopol, A.D. (2005), History of Political Parties in Romania, from Origins until 1866, Revised edition, introduction and notes by Constantin Schifirnet, Bucharest: Albastros Press.

Cosmin Lucian Gherghe, Lecturer, PhD, University of Craiova, Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, Political Sciences specialization, CEPOS Staff, Member of the Board of Directors of the CEPOS Conference 2014 Phone: 0040251418515, E-mail: avcosmingherghe@yahoo.com.