Mediators of the Universal Vote in Rural Romania After the Great War: The Integration of the Peasantry into the Political System

This article investigates whether the inclusion of peasants in the electoral body of Romania following the agrarian and electoral reforms introduced after World War I also signaled their political emancipation. Although the village formally became the scene where political battles were fought, Romanian political parties adapted very little to universal suffrage in the context of a predominantly rural society. Political activism in rural areas was limited to organizing the vote for parliamentary and local elections, which were regarded as the “political school” of the peasantry. In interwar Romania, traditional methods, especially the administrative resources of the state, were used to manipulate the peasant vote. Such actions ultimately undermined the democratic political education of rural voters and hampered their transformation into citizens.