Alina Mungiu-Pippidi (; born March 12, 1964) is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n political scientist, academic, journalist and writer. A commentator on national politics, she is one of the

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.post-1989 Romania, and, since 1990, an active contributor to ''

Revista 22 ''Revista 22'' (''22 Magazine'') is a Romanian weekly magazine, issued by the Group for Social Dialogue and focused mainly on politics and culture. History and profile ''Revista 22'' was started in 1990. The first edition of the magazine was prin ...

'' weekly. Mungiu-Pippidi was a professor at the National School of Administration and Political Science in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

, where she held courses on

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

and electoral behavior. She has also lectured on post-

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

transition to a

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...

at several universities and business schools, including

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and the

Stockholm School of Economics The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE; sv, Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, HHS) is a private business school located in city district Vasastaden in the central part of Stockholm, Sweden. SSE offers BSc, MSc and MBA programs, along with ...

. She is the sister of film director

Cristian Mungiu Cristian Mungiu (; born 27 April 1968) is a Romanian filmmaker. He won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival for his film ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'', which he wrote and directed. He has also won the awards for Best Screenplay an ...

. In August 2007 she assumed a professorship in democracy studies at the

Hertie School of Governance The Hertie School (until 2019 Hertie School of Governance) is a German private, independent graduate school for governance (public policy, international affairs and data science) located in Berlin's Friedrichstraße. Hertie School is according ...

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Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. She founded and currently chairs the European Research Centre for Anti-Corruption and State-Building and co-directs the EU FP7 five years research project ANTICORRP. In 2022 her work surpassed 5000 citations on

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes ...

, more than any other Romanian political scientist.

Biography

Born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

, she graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mih ...

. Starting in her student years, she began contributing essays of literary criticism to the magazine ''Cronica''. After 1993, she worked for the Bucharest daily ''Express'' (until 1994). She was also the Romanian correspondent for the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

newspaper ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' (1992–1993), and was employed as a news editor by the

Romanian Television Company Televiziunea Română (), more commonly referred to as TVR , is the short name for Societatea Română de Televiziune ("Romanian Television Society"; SRTV), the Romanian public television. It operates six channels: TVR1, TVR2, TVR3, TVR Inf ...

(1997–1998). In 2000, she authored a political science textbook for optional studies in high schools. Mungiu-Pippidi holds a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

social psychology Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the ...

. She visited

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

twice, first as a Fulbright fellow in the Government Department (1994–1995), and then as Shorenstein fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government (1998–1999). In 1995, she founded Romania's largest

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

, the

Romanian Academic Society The Romanian Academic Society (''Societatea Academică din România'' in Romanian) is a Bucharest-based think tank and NGO founded in 1996. It is considered close to the right wing of politics. SAR seeks to *Contribute to good governance and dev ...

(SAR), which issued several reports that were at the center of public debates (among others, they were credited with promoting steps that led the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

to ultimately adopt legislation regarding

freedom of information Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, indigen ...

flat tax A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progress ...

ation, and other approaches to Romania's accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

). Mungiu-Pippidi is currently the SAR's president. She has also created and led the "Coalition for a Clean Parliament" (''Coaliția pentru un Parlament Curat''), which in the wake of the 2004 legislative elections, campaigned for candidates with reported moral problems (such as incompatibility or undergoing the investigation of judicial authorities) to be excluded from party lists (98 candidatures were withdrawn following the coalition's campaign).

Other activities

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

(ECFR), Member * Editor, '' Romanian Journal of Political Science''

Selected works

Books

*''Europe's Burden: Promoting Good Governance across Borders'', Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pr ...

, 2020 *''The Quest for Good Governance: How Societies Develop Control of Corruption'', Cambridge:

, 2015 *''A Tale of Two Villages. Coerced Modernization in the East European Countryside'', Budapest: CEU Press, 2010 *''Ottomans into Europeans: State and Institution Building in South-Eastern Europe'' (editor), London: Hurst; Boulder:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fie ...

, 2010 *''Nationalism after Communism. Lessons Learned from Nation and State Building'', edited with Ivan Krastev, New York and Budapest:

Central European University Press Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

, 2004

Essays

*''Românii după '89'' ("The Romanians after '89") *''Doctrine politice. Concepte universale și realități românești'' ("Political doctrines. Universal concepts and Romanian realities"), 1998 *''Introducere în politologie. Manual opțional pentru liceu.'' ("An introduction to politology. Optional textbook for high school"), 2000 *''Romania after 2000. Threats and Challenges'', 2002

Plays

Alina Mungiu-Pippidi has also written a number of plays, the most high-profile of which has been ''

The Evangelists ''The Evangelists'' (''Evangheliştii'' in Romanian) is a controversial play by Romanian academic and writer Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. The play received the UNITER Prize, one of Romania's most prestigious literary awards, in 1992. Plot summary The p ...

''. The play, which was written in the 1990s, only debuted in Romania in 2005, where it sparked a considerable amount of controversy from

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

religious groups, who labeled it as "

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religio ...

" and "an attack against public morals".Otilia Haraga
"Play on religious subject triggers heated discussions"
, ''

Bucharest Daily News ''Bucharest Daily News'' was an English-language newspaper operating out of the Romanian capital city, Bucharest, and was frequently cited as a source by the sudden influx of Romanian news articles on Wikinews. It covered world and local news, pol ...

'', December 16, 2005 The play is based on the life of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

from a different point of view than that of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

. Among its controversial scenes is one in which it is suggested that

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

has

oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex p ...

with Jesus.

References

Cartea Românească Cartea Românească ("The Romanian Book") is a publishing house in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1919. Disestablished by the communist regime in 1948, it was restored under later communism, in 1970, when it functioned as the official imprint of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mungiu-Pippidi, Alina 1964 births Living people Writers from Iași Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni Romanian dramatists and playwrights Harvard University people Romanian magazine editors Romanian sociologists Romanian women sociologists Romanian textbook writers Academic staff of Hertie School Romanian women essayists Women dramatists and playwrights Women magazine editors Women textbook writers