During 1970 and 1971 party leaders noted that, whereas the annual production increase envisaged by the Five-Year Plan (1971-75) had been fulfilled for industry, that for agriculture fell far short. Ceausescu called for a renewal of intensive efforts in both industry and agriculture to meet the requirements of the people and to enable the country to achieve the true socialist state of development.
National Minorities
The integration of the major non-Romanian national groups into the life of the country has posed periodic problems for the PCR throughout the post-World War II era. Each of the communist constitutions guaranteed equal rights to the national minorities, rights that included the opportunity to use their own language and to have representation on local bodies of government. The Hungarian Autonomous Region had been created by the 1952 Constitution but was not continued under the 1968 territorial reorganization (see ch. 8; ch. 4).
Party leaders explained the decision to abandon the concept of an autonomous region for the Hungarian population in terms of the need to integrate all of the minority groups fully into the Romanian political community. Spokesmen asserted that it is the policy of the PCR to respect the heritage of the various nationality groups and extend to them full political rights but at the same time to work to create conditions that will serve to unite all of the country under the leadership of the party.
PCR leaders have feared the possibility of attempts by foreign elements to foster unrest among the country's larger minority groups. This was particularly true at the time of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, when Romanian leaders were apprehensive about the possibility of a similar intervention in their country. At that time PCR officials visited the areas where there were concentrations of Hungarian and German minorities, stressing national unity and equal rights for all national groups.
These efforts were followed in November 1968 by the establishment of nationality councils: the Council of Working People of Hungarian Nationality and the Council of Working People of German Nationality. Units of the Hungarian council were established in fifteen counties, and units of the German council were established in nine counties. In counties where there existed substantial Serbian or Ukrainian populations, similar local councils were established for these groups, although only the Hungarian and German minorities maintained councils on the national level. The nationality councils were affiliated with the Socialist Unity Front. A month after the establishment of the councils the Grand National Assembly, on the initiative of the party, passed legislation granting the minorities increased representation on local government bodies.
In explaining the purposes of the nationality councils, Ceausescu declared that they would "cultivate socialist patriotism, socialist internationalism, and devotion for our new order and for the common fatherland ... against any backward nationalistic concepts and manifestations." Observers of Romanian political affairs pointed out, however, that the councils are closely tied to the party and, although they can serve as means of communication between the PCR and the minority groups, they function primarily as transmission belts for party policies and as instruments for PCR political and educational activities.
Social Democracy and Party Ideology
At the same time that the PCR has sought to present itself as a progressive force seeking the participation of the people in political affairs, it has also carried on a campaign to strengthen what it calls the Marxist character of all ideological, cultural, and educational activities. Within limits, Ceausescu has encouraged what he has termed as "socialist democracy"—open communication between the masses and the party leadership—and he has publicly called for the people to express their views on political issues.
Socialist democracy is defined by Ceausescu as a spirit of social responsibility by which the citizens are inspired to perform their duties in accordance with the needs and imperatives of the society as a whole. The goal of socialist democracy is to stimulate the masses to support the cause of socialism by involving them in the programs of the PCR to such an extent that the individual identifies his personal goals and values with those of the party.