In response to massive popular protest, Romania appointed a technocratic government in December 2015, which lasted until parliamentary elections in December 2016. The Social Democrat Party (PSD) government elected in December 2016 once again generated even more massive protests in February 2017, when it attempted to railroad a change to the Penal Code that would have decriminalised some corruption, coincidentally including the leader of the PSD. The seminar will look at the challenges the technocratic government faced during its life and what its long term impact might be, particularly on popular expectations of government and of the rule of law.