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In 1866, following the accession of a foreign prince to the Romanian throne and the sanctioning of the new Constitution, the Romanian political elite managed to strengthen the political regime of the age. Both conservative and liberal leaders became conscious of the necessity of structuring a political regime based on the constitutional monarchy, which could generate political, cultural and social-economic changes. The liberal and conservative politicians, many of which were educated abroad, imposed a series of new principles, ideas and values in the Romanian realm in the second half of the 19th century. These invariably lead to a gradual change of the political regime, the political elite wanting and managing to diminish the gap between Romania and the other European states to a great extent. The present article proposes a new perspective, based on historical facts studied with the instruments of political science and addressing a topic that belongs to the political history and that calls the attention of numerous scholars nowadays. I also intend to discuss a new approach regarding the analysis of an important aspect of the Romanian political regime. My research concentrates on the following research challenge: How was the British classical model adjusted to the Romanian realm and how did it generate a two-party system with specific features for the Romanian political life?

My article, concentrating on a topic that is still viable nowadays, belongs to the field of political history and presents an important feature of the Romanian political life. The process of modernisation of the Romanian state and society was strengthened in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. There were major changes at the political, social, economic and cultural level. The present article proposes to analyse the relationship between the electoral system and the two-party system while investigating historical facts through the support of political science tools.

According to the Constitution of 1866, the prerogatives of Carol I permitted him to be a mediator in the political struggle between liberals and conservatives, as a constitutional monarch. In 1866, there were different political groups, liberal and conservative, which formed unstable governments (1866-1871). The political stability was assured for a short period by the conservative government (1871-1876). In time, the political groups decided to unite, founding the two major parties, the National Liberal Party (1875)and the Conservative Party (1880). Both parties tended to monopolize the political power for a long period of time, generating tensions between government-opposition (1876-1888 – liberal government and 1888-1895 – conservative government). During 1895 and 1914 functioned the "rotativa guvernamentală" ("governmental rotation"), representing a particularity of the Romanian two-party system, characterized as an organized alternation in government of National Liberal Party with Conservative Party.

Carol I and the political leaders maintained the two-party system founded by the political parties, National-Liberal Party and Conservative Party (after their formation) with balanced forces, in not conceding importance to the political factions or other parties, which could generate political instability. Expressing as a true arbiter in political life, Carol I used the alternation at government of the National-Liberal Party with the Conservative Party from 1895-1914, called in the specialized literature as "rotativa guvernamentală" ("governmental rotation"). In running of this type as organized alternation, an important role was assigned to Carol I, who took over the British model, because it ensured the public peace and permitted a balance of forces between conservators and liberals.The alternation mechanism to government of conservators with liberals has functioned before 1895, but with unequal period of time, with alliances between liberal and conservator factions (1866-1871); between parties and different factions of conservators (1888-1895). This system allowed the consolidation of the two government parties and the state institutions. The collaboration of the two parties was accomplished for the welfare of the state: in situations of political, economic, crises the two parties were supporting each other. The government program applied by a party which was in government was continued by the party who succeeded in power.