The occurrences in December 1989 ended Ceausescu's rule but did not transform the mentality of the whole population overnight, nor did it immediately establish a new legitimate infrastructure of power. This is an ongoing and time-consuming process. Nonetheless, Constantinescu may be misinterpreting the concept of revolution. Revolution forcibly replaces one system of rule with another. It is the task of the new system to build a different but legitimate political and economic society.
Revolution is the turning-point, construction is the aftermath.
Patterns of revolution can help us determine whether the events in 1989 were indeed a revolution. This is soon dislodged by moderates. The initial victors have convictions but little plan of how to introduce a new system. The moderates lack conviction but have some knowledge on how to establish a political system. In Eastern Europe some parallels do exist.