Conclusion: Civism Against Cynicism

Abstract

Martin-Russu’s book explains Romania’s reform reversal in the field of public integrity and the fight against corruption by providing evidence of legislative behaviour at the highest levels of policy-making that shows how a highly fragmented domestic political elite pursues private gains by diluting the legislation in force. Her understanding of Europeanization, modelled as a reversible process highly dependent on the interests pursued by political elites, offers a quite pessimistic prospect for reform. However, Martin-Russu suggests a solution to reform instability, found in the empowerment of sectoral civil society to participate, in one manner or another, in the law-making process. Improving the capacities of civil society to participate more effectively in policy formulation and implementation, she argues, makes democratic consolidation more feasible and allows for genuine Europeanizing reform. Martin-Russu’s book provides a cautionary tale about the naivety of expecting domestic corrupt political elites to lead the fight against corruption, an account of the failure of the EU’s push for reforms to produce genuine and lasting change, and a demonstration of how important it is for the EU to find new ways to support civil society in its member states.