A LAWMAKER IN THE MODERN AGE. P. P. CARP

Abstract

The conservative Petre P. Carp became famous in Romania’s modern age in several ways: as a doctrinarian, as a diplomat and as a man of letters. However, he was also one of the most important lawmakers in small Romania and his legislative endeavour subscribed to the effort to modernise the Romanian economy and society in a capitalist fashion, in the second part of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. The accurate perception on Carp’s contribution to this process was influenced by the deformed image created by the clichés disseminated about him. The perspectivist method of interpreting his manifestation as a lawmaker shapes the image of a lawmaker who knew very well the legal systems of various ages and who was capable of creating adequate measures in order to solve the issues specific to the Romanian society of that time. Interpreted from this standpoint, his legislative actions did not belong to a “retrograde”, as they were labelled, but to a politician who approached governance with rigour and competence, trying to improve given situations (within the limits imposed by his conservatism).