PROPAGANDA ELECTORALĂ ÎN ROMÂNIA INTERBELICĂ (1919-1937). ADUNĂRILE ELECTORALE
The Electoral Propaganda in Inter-War Romania (1919-1937). The Electoral Meetings

Summary/Abstract: On the terms of introducing the universal suffrage we witness the development of the techniques and modalities of the electoral propaganda used by the political parties after World War I. In this article we want to analyse only a part of the strong propaganda, namely the organizing the electoral meetings. This kind of electoral propaganda was used not only by the leading party, but also by the opposite political groups. The electoral meetings were organized not only in the cities but also in the countryside. The lawful base of organizing electoral meetings was the 28th article from the Constitution elaborated in 1923. Organizing the electoral meetings was the job of the local party organization, of the candidates on the electoral lists. Some party leaders from the ”Center” and, sometimes, even the party president used to participate to those meetings. During inter-war time, Nicolae Iorga, Alexandru Averescu and leaders of the Iron Guardist Movement were famous for organizing some electoral tours. In this article we also show the way those electoral meetings were seen in that epoch, the way they took place and their impact on the voters. We also insisted on the fact that politicians speculated the political immaturity of the electorate, developing a demagogical electoral discourse. Oftenly, the image of those electoral meetings was a ridiculouse one. We also stop on the role played by the electoral agents into that type of propaganda. Their duty was to gather the people, to create a certain frame of mind etc. The author’s conclusion is that the electoral meetings were the straightest way of contact between voters and the candidates of the political parties. Entering the Parliament and even the existence of political parties on the political stage of Romania depended in a large measure on the political people’s ability to make themselves known, to make their ideas popular among voters.

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