The Interminable Transition; An Analysis of the Electoral Behavior in Albania (1991-2017)

Abstract

Albania has been led by a communist regime, characterized by repression and isolationism for over 45 years. The transition, started at the ’90 toward a democratic system and to an open society based on the occidental model couldn’t be accomplished in a fast and bloodless way. There were too many reasons to explain this difficult transition, but just to mention, must be considered the absence of the democratic culture of the entire political ruling class (elite) (leadership). The transition process toward democracy in Albania began when the communist regime entered into crisis and its political elite (leadership) proclaimed the intention to open a new phase and to extend significantly freedom and rights. Starting from 1990 began to fail the obstacles that prohibited, till that time, the expression of the freedom, the disagreement and the pluralism. This transition process was characterized by its multiplicity, as the political changes was correlated with economic, cultural and social changes. Immediately after 1990, Albania had to face many challenges, but the most important concerned the institution of a new democratic order and the creation of a market economy, without, however, that this process was accompanied by a structural reform of the institutional framework. There is necessary to consider the communist heredity, while undertaking efforts to achieve a sufficient level of democracy. The heredity of the past means to consider dissimilar features like values, identity, standards, institutions, élite, behaviors and practices, that survived the transition and affected the later aspects, encouraging some changes, and hindering others.The communist regime let behind a flat socio-political landscape, a weak civil society, a fragile law domain, turbulent political coalitions and main political tendencies compromised. The experts that study this period state that Albania has undergone one of the most turbulent transformations at the post-communist world. There are, particularly, three dramatic moments that shook from the basis its institutions: a) the collapse of the communist regime at 1991-1992; b) the crisis of the financial pyramids at 1997; c) the influx of half million refugees from Kosovo in 1999. So, the transition process cannot be completely understood without considering the role of the old and new political elites, the mechanisms that regulates the internal activities of the parties, and the structure of the electoral behavior.