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Romania
Women in decision-making positions
14%
Members of local deliberative bodies are women (5,841 elected women)
No woman is Head of State or Government
19%
Parliamentarians are women
10%
Ministers are women

Government organization

Romania is a unitary republic with two spheres of government: central and local.

One tier of central government and two tiers of local government: counties and localities, or the City of Bucharest and the Districts of Bucharest.
Central government
  • Head of State: The President is directly elected by voters.
  • Head of Government: The Prime Minister is nominated and appointed by the President, on the basis of a vote of confidence from Parliament.
  • Legislative body: The Parliament is a bicameral legislature, with an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies). Members of Parliament are elected directly by voters.
  • Executive body: The Government consists of the Prime Minister and ministers nominated by the candidate for Prime Minister for a vote of confidence from Parliament.
Local government
  • Organization: Local government is organized into two tiers: an upper tier of 41 county-level local government units and the Municipality of Bucharest, and a lower tier of 3,175 locality-level local government units and six Bucharest district-level local government units. The Municipality of Bucharest has a special dual status of a municipality and county. Localities include the towns, municipalities, and communes of Romania.
  • Competencies: Local government is responsible for making decisions on local issues, approving the local budget, setting local taxes, administrating the public and private assets of the local government area, managing the social, economic, and environmental development of the local government area, and ensuring the framework for the delivery of public services related to education, health, social protection, urban development, and infrastructure.
  • Ministerial oversight: The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration is responsible for central government oversight of local government.

Overview of local government

Local government composition
County-level government (județe)

Deliberative body: The county council (consiliul județean) is composed of 31-37 elected members. The council president (președinte de consiliu) presides over it; the council president is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The council president is the executive at the county level of government.

Municipality of Bucharest (Municipiul București)

Deliberative body: The Bucharest General Council (Consiliul General al Municipiului București) is composed of 55 elected members. The Mayor of Bucharest (Primarul Capitalei) presides over the Bucharest General Council and is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The Mayor of Bucharest is the executive of the Municipality of Bucharest.

Locality-level government (comună/ oraș/ municipiu)

Deliberative body: The local council (consiliul local) is composed of 9-31 elected members. The mayor (primar) presides over it; the mayor is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The mayor is the executive at the locality level of government.

Bucharest district-level government (sectoare ale Bucureștiului)

Deliberative body: The district council (consiliu sectorial) is composed of 27-31 elected members. The mayor (primar) presides over it; the mayor is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The mayor is the executive at the district level of government.

Local government elections
Electoral system

Electoral system for local deliberative bodies: proportional representation (closed list)

  • A closed party-list proportional electoral system is used for local deliberative body elections.  For the distribution of councilor mandates, the constituency electoral bureau establishes the electoral threshold of the constituency, representing 5% of the total number of valid votes expressed in the respective constituency. In the case of political alliances or electoral alliances, at the 5% threshold is added for the second member of the alliance 2%. For alliances with at least 3 members, the electoral threshold is 8%. Individual candidates may be elected if they obtain a number of votes at least equal to the electoral coefficient.

Electoral system for mayors, council presidents: majority/plurality (first-past-the-post)

  • Mayors are directly elected by voters using a first-past-the-post electoral system.

Source: Law on Election of Local Authorities for Local Public Administration, 2015 (amended through 2022), article 1, 101, 101^1 and 102

Quotas
  • Gender quotas: No
  • Additional quotas: No
Term of elections
  • Term length: 4 years
  • Last local elections: 2020 
  • Next local elections: 2024
Electoral management body

Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania

National legal framework on local government
National legal framework
  • Constitution of Romania, 1991 (amended through 2003);
  • Law on Election of Local Authorities for Local Public Administration, 2015 (amended through 2022);
  • Law on Local Public Administration, 2001 (amended through 2019).
Constitutional provisions on local government

There are constitutional provisions that establish local government in Romania. According to Articles 120, 121, and 122 of the Constitution of 1991 (amended through 2003), “the public administration in territorial-administrative units is based on the principle of decentralization, local autonomy, and decentralization of public services. The public administration authorities, through which local autonomy is implemented in the communes and cities, are the elected local councils and the mayors elected in accordance with the law. The local councils and the mayors cooperate as autonomous administrative authorities and manage public affairs in the communes and cities in accordance with the law. The county council is the public administration authority in charge of coordinating the activity of the communal and city councils, for the purpose of carrying out public services of interest to the county.”

Legislative provisions on local government

Parliament is responsible for establishing the national legal framework on local government. The key piece of legislation which regulates local government is the Law on Local Public Administration of 2001 (amended through 2022), which regulates the general regime of local autonomy, as well as the organization and functioning of the local public administration authorities.

Sources:

1. UN Women: Data on share of women in local government as of 1 January 2023.

2. UN Women: Information on Head of State and Government as of 3 October 2023.

3. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Data on share of women in the single/lower chamber of parliament as of 1 January 2023.

4. IPU and UN Women: Data on share of women in ministerial positions as of 1 January 2023.

5. Information on local government organization as of 1 January 2023.