Stockholm Studies in Politics 142 Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations 62 Södertörn Political Studies 9 From the very beginning of independence, the Republic of Moldova Johansson Andreas became the battleground for competing nationalisms. In the literature Dissenting Democrats on democracy, a divided nation is singled out as probably the most Nation and Democracy in the Republic of Moldova serious threat to democratization. Without a nation in place, it is generally understood that democracy cannot take root. Nevertheless, in a few years Moldova managed to make considerable progress Andreas Johansson on its path towards democracy. A main theme of the dissertation is, therefore, the issue of national division and how it has affected Dissenting Democrats political developments in general and democratization in particular. The dissertation contributes to the discussion of how concepts of nation and democracy are linked in the analysis of transitional states. Democracy, as a platform where different political ideas and ambitions compete, can complicate transitions since it provides the potential for conflict. Democracy, however, also offers the prospect of finding common ground on which to negotiate, and this, in the long run, carries the seed of consolidation for both democracy and nation alike. Andreas Johansson is a researcher affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Stockholm University, and the School of Social Sciences and the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies at Södertörn University. He is currently working for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. This is his doctoral dissertation. ISBN 978-91-7447-406-0 ISBN 978-91-86069-41-4 ISSN 0346-6620 ISSN 1652-7399 ISSN 1653-8269 Department of Political Science Doctoral Thesis in Political Science at Stockholm University, Sweden 2011 STOCKHOLM STUDIES IN POLITICS 142 DISSENTING DEMOCRATS NATION AND DEMOCRACY IN THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA Dissenting Democrats Nation and Democracy in the Republic of Moldova Andreas Johansson © Andreas Johansson, Stockholm 2011 Stockholm Studies in Politics 142 ISSN 0346-6620 Södertörn Doctoral Dissertations 62 ISSN 1652-7399 Södertörn Political Studies 9 ISSN 1653-8269 ISBN 978-91-7447-406-0 (Stockholms universitet) ISBN 978-91-86069-41-4 (Södertörns högskola) Printed in Sweden by Universitetsservice US-AB, Stockholm, 2011 Distributor: Department of Political Science, Stockholm University Figure 1: Administrative division of the Republic of Moldova by authors “Zserghei” and “Conscious”, published under the GNU Free Documentation License v1.3 Cover photo: demonstration in central Chişinău, 6 April 2009 by John McConnico Till Alex och Anna Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 21 Earlier Research on Moldova ................................................................................. 23 Language and National Identity in Transition .................................................... 25 Democratization and National Division ................................................................ 28 Aim and Research Questions ................................................................................. 32 Method and material ............................................................................................... 34 Measuring Attitudes ........................................................................................... 36 Background Variables Applied ......................................................................... 39 Outline of the Study ................................................................................................ 42 2. The Historical, Economic and Social Setting................................... 45 Under the Reign of Empires................................................................................... 46 Independence and Union with Romania .............................................................. 48 The Bessarabian Question and the Interwar Period .......................................... 49 The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ............................................................. 52 Independence and Division ................................................................................... 54 “Transition to Destitution” ..................................................................................... 55 Demographics, Migration and Longing for the Past .......................................... 58 A Non-Conducive Setting for Democracy ............................................................ 60 3. Political Regime and Nation in Transition ........................................ 62 Democracy ................................................................................................................ 64 Initiatives to Measure Democracy ........................................................................ 67 Representation and Participation .......................................................................... 68 Political Support ....................................................................................................... 69 Transition .................................................................................................................. 71 Transitions to or from in Post-Communist Europe ............................................ 72 Democracy and the Nation .................................................................................... 74 Ethnic Groups and Nations as Collective Identities ........................................... 76 Presumed Ethnic Membership ............................................................................... 77 Nation as Political Community .............................................................................. 79 Nationalism in East and West ............................................................................... 81 Claiming Territory and Building Nation ............................................................... 83 When is Consolidation Reached? .......................................................................... 86 Moving Ahead ........................................................................................................... 87 4. Ethnic Minorities and Divided Core Nation ...................................... 89 Ethnicity through Censuses ................................................................................... 89 Ethnic Minority Groups ........................................................................................... 92 Ukrainians............................................................................................................ 93 Russians ............................................................................................................... 94 Gagauzians .......................................................................................................... 96 Bulgarians ............................................................................................................ 97 Roma .................................................................................................................... 98 Jews ...................................................................................................................... 99 Contradicting Nationalisms .................................................................................. 100 Cine suntem noi? ................................................................................................... 104 5. Politics of National Division .............................................................. 108 Nationalism and Re-active Nationalisms: 1989-1993 .................................... 109 The Gagauz conflict ......................................................................................... 112 Transnistria Secedes ....................................................................................... 114 The Immediate Regional Consequences of the 1992 Conflict .................. 116 Casa Noastră: 1994-2000.................................................................................... 117 Moldovanism with a Soviet Face: 2001-2003 .................................................. 122 A Softer Form of Moldovanism: 2003-2007 ..................................................... 124 The Return of Identity Conflicts: 2007-2009 ................................................... 125 Twenty Years of Identity Politics ........................................................................ 129 6. Democracy from Above ..................................................................... 132 Form of Government ............................................................................................. 134 Grading Moldovan Democracy ............................................................................ 136 Free and Fair Elections ......................................................................................... 140 Freedom of Organization ...................................................................................... 142 Freedom of Expression ......................................................................................... 143 Alternative Sources of Information .................................................................... 144 Right to Vote .......................................................................................................... 146 State of Polyarchy ................................................................................................