TRI DEKADA PAS: NJË PËRMBLEDHJE TRANZICIONI PËR SHQIPËRINË
THREE DECADES LATER: A SUMMARY OF ALBANIA’S TRANSITION

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims at giving a concise overview of the main issues shaping the development of political and representative system during Albania’s transition; it also covers some important debates on this topic, underpinning the thesis that in Albanian, the confluence of various historical, social and political factors, made the end result of Albanian transition broadly equal to the maximum the political elite could offer; for the same reason, all efforts to reform the system in view these limitations produced largely similar results. The difference in the widespread perception of the enormous gap between expectations and reality, with the balance sheet of actual capacities and opportunities to achieve any significant progress during Albania’s transition is very telling in this regard. Albania entered the path towards democracy in the absence of real democrats and of a true multi-party system; the only framework and reference model was the single-party system. The new democratic era endowed powerful leadership mandates and new legitimacy upon political elites formed, raised and promoted in a political system that was the exact opposite to the open society model. Originally written to address a foreign audience, the paper covers with the main theses and findings of studies on the transition in Albania. It analyses the main institutions, the representative system, the role of parties and elections, and the influences of the legacy of the past on the quality and model of the democracy of Albania. It concludes that transition in Albania cannot be seen in black and white, but as an ever-changing process, an experience that reflects the coexistence and rivalry between expectations, opportunities and capacities. The post-communist period, with all its shortcomings and failures, remains, from a historically comparative perspective, the best period for the Albanian state and society, marking the most productive and intensive relations with democracy, rule of law and the West.

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