The aim of the article is to show the transformation that took place in the Romanian constitutionalism in the interwar period. The basis for the author’s considerations are selected provisions of the two fundamental laws in force in Romania during this period, that is, the constitutions adopted in 1923 and 1938. These acts have created the foundation for two entirely different political systems – a parliamentary democracy (a parliamentary-cabinet system of government) and authoritarianism (breaking with the principle of the separation of powers for the sake of concentrating all the power in the hands of one authority, that is, the monarch). The political evolution that took place in Romania is part of the broader phenomenon of the crisis of parliamentary democracy in interwar Europe. The dictatorship, proclaimed in 1940 by General Antonescu, with the suspension of the Fundamental Law, defi nitively ended the constitutional period in Romania. The state was transformed into a totalitarian country. In addition, the article also briefl y presents the fundamental laws in force in Romania during the rule of the Communist Party. A broader reference to the practice of governance is made in the summary, in particular as regards the period after the Constitution of 1938 entered into force.

The aim of the article is to show the transformation that took place in the Romanian constitutionalism in the interwar period. The basis for the author’s considerations are selected provisions of the two fundamental laws in force in Romania during this period, that is, the constitutions adopted in 1923 and 1938. These acts have created the foundation for two entirely different political systems – a parliamentary democracy (a parliamentary-cabinet system of government) and authoritarianism (breaking with the principle of the separation of powers for the sake of concentrating all the power in the hands of one authority, that is, the monarch). The political evolution that took place in Romania is part of the broader phenomenon of the crisis of parliamentary democracy in interwar Europe. The dictatorship, proclaimed in 1940 by General Antonescu, with the suspension of the Fundamental Law, defi nitively ended the constitutional period in Romania. The state was transformed into a totalitarian country. In addition, the article also briefl y presents the fundamental laws in force in Romania during the rule of the Communist Party. A broader reference to the practice of governance is made in the summary, in particular as regards the period after the Constitution of 1938 entered into force.