Central and Local Public Administration in the Dynamics of Inter-Ethnic Relations in Romania

Abstract

This paper attempts to reveal the the role of central governments, represented by the deconcentrated (territorial) governmental institutions, and the local governments’ public policies in ethnically mixed areas of Romania, in influencing the development of inter-ethnic relations in general, and the occasional ethnic bias that can be observed at the local level, in particular. The main research questions are: in what conditions do local governments improve or worsen inter-ethnic relations in Romania? In what conditions can the central government mitigate the local ethnic tensions and conflicts? In Romania, the ethnic minority issues local governments are confronted with spring from two main sources of tension: the tension between the Romanians and the Hungarians, and the tension between the local (relative) majority and the Roma communities. The two types of relations are quite different in nature, though some similarities do exist, and are not insignificant. In this paper we will focus on the relationship between the Romanians and the Hungarians. In this respect we will distinguish between two levels of the ethnic minority issue: the national level and the local level. At the local level, the minority community is represented by the ethnic community that is statistically in minority in that settlement. In this sense the ethnic Romanians can form a minority community in some municipalities of Romania, but we keep in mind that their situation is not the same as that of the national minorities, in the more common definition.