Standards of representation in political parties

Gender equality is widely accepted by political and institutional actors in Albania and is prominently anchored in the country’s legal framework in line with Albania’s international obligations1 and its efforts towards EU Acquis approximation. Achieving full gender equality at the national level is a human rights issue, closely linked to rule of law and non-discrimination in society. Equal representation in Albania’s political party system is concurrent with the country’s democratic standards, the constitutional obligations and state responsibilities to fight gender-based discrimination, the specific features of the Albanian political system, and the legislation on elections and on political parties. Women’s representation in parliament, government, and local government has increased considerably nationwide after the application of the gender quota in 2013 and 2015. Although the growth curve is reflected across the country, there is a noticeable difference between the regions and among competing political entities. Equal representation in party structures is associated with the introduction and enforcement of gender quotas. Despite positive trends and promises by the political parties in this regard, women’s representation in party decision-making bodies remains low. The main obstacles to the present representation gap are linked to the patriarchal culture that prevails in the society and the political class of the country, and to the weak voice of women in the media and civil society, which has not yet been able to maximize its chances to promote gender equality. However, the existence of positive models of women politicians in social, political and media that effectively promote women in politics and decision-making shows that further investment in promoting gender equality and equal political representation is needed to achieve sustainability and success

Territorial division along a century, features and differences

Albania is in a new phase of territorial division, a constitutional practice that expresses internal organizational needs and development prospects in the coming years. The concept of territorial division, the criteria for this division, problems and effects of its operation over a century remain an object of study and an important factor to create a clearer vision on its future. Because of the importance of the problem, the lack of such comparative studies and the need for professional treatment of this division process across a century, this study examines the common feature and difference of this process and argues that the administrative division in each period has been and remains an important political act, a reflection of the nature of the governmental systems and vision on the development prospects of the country. The study analyzes the legislation and administrative separation projects in 100 years, focusing mainly on the early years of the Albanian state, the period of the Albanian monarchy, the communist period and the period of democratic transition. It analyzes the factors that have contributed in each case, the features of these divisions, the most obvious effects that they have given in the national and political organization, as well as reports of divisions with the own citizen requirements/expectations. Leaving behind the actuality, retrospectively and historical perspective, the study advocates that the process of administrative division at any time is and remains one of the most important decisions for the country, for the representative and political institutions, as well as an important indicator for designing the Albania of the next decades

Democracy state and autocratization features in the Republic of Albania

This article examines the Albanian political regime, as a single case study, for the period 2013-2021, as part of the Western Balkans' experience of democratic backsliding, by investigating the framework of factors linked with the formidable challenge posed by the emergence of a hybrid regime of Albania in these years. For the first time in Albania's post-communist history, the incumbent Socialist Party of Albania won for the third time in a row the parliamentary elections of April 2021, thus making the bid for the power of the leading opposition parties much harder. This paper uses country-expert statistical data from V-Dem and qualitative data analyses. The study reveals that the over-reliance on strong leaders, the growing government control over public life, fragmentation of the opposition, its lack of appeal, organization and mobilization, the boycott of the parliamentary mandates, combined with the weakening role of media and distrust of the citizens in democratic institutions, led to the resurgence of the authoritarian mechanisms, making the liberal democratic transformation in Albania an increasingly challenging task

Decriminalization: current situation, issues, and expectations

In the history of post-communist Albania, there are cases of politicians with unclear records being promoted to senior leadership positions. In a country with a limited democratic tradition, coming from an era of iron dictatorship with a dominating principle of career making based on party loyalty, unconditional service to the leader and incrimination as a recruitment quality, representation issues during the phases of transitioning to a functional democracy were anticipated....The Albanian Assembly approved in December of 2015 the Law No. 138/2015 “On ensuring the integrity of persons elected, appointed, or holding public functions”, also known as the decriminalization law. The Albanian law is a unique model in the continent and is related to the political context of the 2011-2015 period. This report analyzes representation issues, focusing mainly on decriminalization cases and the behavior of parties, their constituents, and constitutional and legal institutions toward these representation issues. The report feeds on and includes detailed data from the legislation, based on developments within and outside political parties, names and the most relevant cases, and the stocktaking of the implementation of the decriminalization process, a few two years after entry into force of the law

Partitë politike në Shqipëri (përmbledhje)

I. Zhvillimi i partive politike në Shqipëri II. Partitë politike më të rëndësishme në Shqipëri III. Koalicionet politike në Shqipëri IV. Ideologjitë e partive në Shqipëri V. Demokracia brenda-partive në partitë shqiptare VI. Organizimi i brendshëm i partive shqiptare VII. Perspektiva të ardhshme e partive shqiptar

Organization of parties and internal democracy of political parties in Albania

This paper explores the internal democracy of political parties in Albania and their current organizational structure. It examines the evolution of political parties from their creation after communism fall, to the complex functioning structures of today. Political parties in Albania emerged as a new trend in 1991, opposing the single party-state model of the communist era, and promising boundless democracy and freedom to citizens. 26 years on, these promises are still pending as political parties have continuously failed to embark on serious reforms. The paper examines the main elements within the political parties’ structures, functioning models, organization and internal democracy, as well as the Albanian legislation on political parties and the parties’ own statutory documents, providing thus an overview on the internal democracy level of political parties in Albania. The study makes a qualitative comparison of the autonomy, involvement and participation in decision-making within party structures. The paper argues that the popular parties of horizontal nature are now replaced with clienteles’ parties of vertical nature. Furthermore, the study provides important recommendations for a new democratization process of the representative system, where political parties have an important role to play

Internal Democracy in Albanian Political Parties

Political pluralism in Albania came relatively late, in 1990, after a prolonged lack of democratic experience. Consequently, democratic political parties are relatively new institutions created essentially with the knowledge of past non-democratic models. Democratic practices were almost inexistent, so the evolution of political parties towards a functioning democratic model started practically from zero and incorporated on the way, rules and behaviors imported from abroad or extracted from the internal context. The process of institutionalization of the parties was long and problematic. Currently parties are still looking for a reference model for their political organization of the future. Their internal functioning was initially inspired more by the desire and aspiration to be a democratically functioning party, than by establishing and applying statutory mechanisms and the respective implementation procedures, as a trusted guide and impartial protector of the party democratic norms. In the political debate within the parties or in the public on political parties and their role in society, the concept of internal democracy is treated mainly through its perceived role and importance, than through its sanctioning in the official statute. A certain number of regulations and guidelines fill that gap by completing and / or detailing the daily activities. However the focusing on the written rules often hides the aspect of their implementation. It is these two aspects affecting the internal party democracy that have been selected by the researchers, in order to assess and analyze the indicators of this phenomenon in Albanian political parties. The analysis of internal democracy in Albanian political parties consists of two parts. The first part starts with the description of the concepts of internal democracy; continues with a historical perspective of the birth and development of democratic pluralism and political parties in Albania

Control Through Fear or Enemy at the Gates: The Case of Albania

One of the main features of the communist regime in Albania (1944-1990) was the rule through intimidation and the psychosis of the "enemy at the gates". Based on the historical documents and public sources information, it can be concluded that the main argument for entering or leaving political alliances, and the transition towards a complete isolation is related to the psychosis of fear by new enemy/ enemies. More than two generations grew up and lived under such psychosis. Over the years they took such a situation for granted, by making it an essential part of their rhetoric, lifestyle, thought, and vision for the future. The system of collective intimidation, "the enemy at the gates" turned into a system of rule of law. It was anchored in laws and punishments laid out as persuasive tools against any critical form of resistance to the regime. In such society happiness, sovereignty, survival and success were only considered possible in a closed, isolated system guarded by vigilantes who monitored and rejected of any kind of external influence. The paper analyzes the evolution of the concept of the "enemy" and the system of establishing a feeling of permanent fear emanating from the top (systemic authorities) towards the bottom (citizens and masses), through the official political discourse, its success stories its influence on the political formation of society and on the education of the young generations and its consequences in the process of the construction of collective consciousness and in the establishment of the concept of survival. The paper is based on archival documents, professional publications, interviews and on scientific research. The main value of the paper resides, in addition to the analysis of the phenomenon of formal fear and verbal violence, on the attempt to understand the defects in the democratic formation of the society and the struggle of the post-communist period to get used to the concept of freedom and its values