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ability or willingness of the existing Romanian political elite to respond to voter concerns and
needs under current institutional arrangements does not contribute to sound sleep at night.
An even more important reason to care about the fortunes of Romania’s nationalists and
evaluations of party system accountability is because these topics extend beyond a single case
study to highlight a regional phenomenon: to wit, what might be termed a “second wave” of
Balkan nationalism. With the 2000 electoral success of PRM added to the formidable second
place showing of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) in repeated Serbian presidential elections, and
the return to power of the late Franjo Tudjman’s party, the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ),
observers have ample justification for wondering whether the ultranationalism that arguably rose
and declined in the 1990s has in fact exhausted itself, or whether there is a regional pattern of
ultranationalism regrouping and gathering strength once again.
This paper will argue, first, that PRM and Vadim Tudor are somewhat unlikely to repeat
their 2000 performance because of significant shifts in Romania’s international relations, risky
strategic choices by Vadim Tudor and PRM, and changes in the systemic competition presented
by the rest of Romania’s party system. All of these changes since 2000 present significant
alterations of the underlying conditions for PRM’s previous success. However, the paper hastens
to caution that certain aspects of PRM’s performance in 2000, wild cards in the relationship
between parties and voters, and observations about broader, historical party system
accountability suggest that it is a serious mistake to dismiss completely the electoral potential of
Vadim Tudor and PRM, or persisting voter receptivity to ultranationalist political
entrepreneurship more generally. Finally, the paper will conclude by situating the historical
performance of Romania’s ultranationalists in comparison to their regional neighbors, and
contends that the “second wave” of Balkan nationalism is important, but easily overstated, such
Convention