The current pandemic has generated many conspiracy theories (CTs). In this paper, we investigate several determinants of COVID-19 CTs using survey data from Romania. Some of our findings are consistent with those of previous studies on other CTs: low values of social integration, openmindedness, and analytical thinking predict conspiracy thinking as well as higher levels of collective narcissism. Other findings run counter to those of prior research on CTs. We hypothesize that this might be due to the specificity of the CTs under scrutiny and related to the Romanian context.

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This article tests four theses regarding the origins of Romanian post-socialist entrepreneurs: (1) “political capitalism,” (2) “post-socialist managerialism,” (3) “capitalism from below,” and (4) “refuge from poverty.” The results of the analyses show that the former cadres are at an advantage in being employers due to their organizational experience and network resources. Nevertheless, in line with arguments advanced by the second thesis mentioned above, education, as the most basic form of human capital, plays an important role in this story of entrepreneurship. Consistent with the predictions of the third thesis, the experience in the second economy under state socialism, as a form of cultural capital, represents an asset for being an employer and a small business operator in 2000. Private farming is an avenue taken by former socialist farmers and by some of those who have lost their jobs after 1990, especially the former peasant-workers of state socialism.

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Employing survey data, this study highlights the following characteristics of the Romanian Communist Party (RCP): with an estimated membership of 33 percent of Romania’s employed population, the late RCP was proportionally the largest Leninist party in Eastern Europe. Consistent with the so-called “deproletarianization” thesis, the RCP manifested a marked preference toward recruiting well-educated individuals and professionals among its ranks. The RCP also tended to recruit from among disadvantaged classes (in particular, peasants and their offspring). Despite some prowomen “affirmative action” policies, women were underrepresented among Party members. Some ethnic minorities had fewer chances of joining the RCP than ethnic Romanians. As compared to other communist parties, the RCP had one of the highest rates of intergenerational political reproduction among its ranks. This article suggests that the amorphous character of the RCP and its closed elite could also explain why Party members did not bother to save their historically obsolete leader.

Employing survey data, this article highlights the following characteristics of the Romanian Communist Party (RCP): With an estimated membership of 33 percent of Romania's employed population, the late RCP was proportionally the largest Leninist party in Eastern Europe. Consistent with the socalled “deproletarianization” thesis, the RCP manifested a marked preference toward recruiting well-educated individuals and professionals among its ranks. The RCP also tended to recruit from among disadvantaged classes (in particular, peasants and their offspring). Despite some prowomen “ affirmative action” policies, women were underrepresented among Party members. Some ethnic minorities had fewer chances of joining the RCP than ethnic Romanians. As compared to other communist parties, the RCP had one of the highest rates of intergenerational political reproduction among its ranks. This article suggests that the amorphous character of the RCP and its closed elite could also explain why Party members did not bother to save their historically obsolete leader.

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