Making SENS: Political Opportunities and Digital Strategies of a Romanian Movement Party

This article explores the emergence and growth of the Health, Education, Nature, and Sustainability Party (SENS), a progressive political group established in Romania in 2023. Positioned at the center-left, it promotes a platform based on social equity, environmental sustainability, and democratic inclusion, aiming to engage youth, minorities, and environmentally conscious citizens. Although it remains outside Parliament, SENS secured the strongest electoral results among new progressive parties in the 2024 legislative elections. Addressing a gap in existing research, often focused on populist success stories, this study investigates the political opportunity structures that supported SENS’s relative success. Using a qualitative approach that combines document analysis, media sources, and interviews with party members, the article examines both the wider political landscape and internal party dynamics, including identity, organization, and digital mobilization. The findings indicate that institutional permeability, elite instability, unrepresented constituencies, and highly mobilized supporters contributed to SENS emerging as a distinct actor within Romania’s developing political spectrum, illustrating the dynamics of modern movement parties.