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334Democratic Consolidation as a Teleological Concept in the Study of Post-authoritarian Regimes (edited book)UET Press. 2017.The years that followed the fall of the Berlin wall and various authoritarian regimes in different regions of the world, witnessed the growth of a wide literature on democratization, which was influenced more and more by the paradigm of transition and the “consolidation” of democracy. Since then, evaluations as well as perspectives through which were seen various regimes (the new democracies “with problems”) are developed mainly through the theoretical lens of consolidation paradigm, according t…Read more
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267Does the Communist Mentality Explain the Behaviour of Albanian Politicians During the Transition Period (edited book)UET Press. 2021.During the three decades since Albania overthrew the communist dictatorial system and began its democratic changes, the existence of a line of thought in Albanian society has been noted, which tends to explain the behaviour of Albanian politicians during the transition period based on the assumption of a “communist mentality” carried by them. This line of thought has often been dominant and has been reflected in the Albanian media and public space as a form of “main” explanation to show many of …Read more
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226Holding “free and unfair elections”: the electoral containment strategies used by incumbent political parties in Albania to secure their grip on powerJus and Justicia 16 (1): 78-92. 2022.The purpose of this article is to highlight the clientelistic strategies and informal practices that the ruling political parties in Albania use during the elections to ensure an unfair advantage in their favour over the opposition challengers. One of the main characteristics of the political developments of the transition period in Albania since 1991 has been the flourishing of informal practices and clientelist networks of political parties within state structures, which has produced an extrem…Read more
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231State Capture, Party Patronage and Unfair Electoral Processes: The Typical Case of Election Conduct in AlbaniaActa Politologica 14 (3): 1-22. 2022.This paper aims to analyse the relationship that exists between state capture, party patronage, and the conduct of electoral processes in the settings of post-communist countries, of which Albania is one. A characteristic of the political developments of the transition period in many post-communist countries has been the phenomenon of state capture, which has occurred mainly through the endemic party patronage and politicization of state institutions. The phenomenon of state capture by the rulin…Read more
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202Interest Articulation and Lobbying in Unregulated Legal Contexts: The Case of AlbaniaEconomicus 21 (2): 172-183. 2022.The main argument of this paper is that the legal regulation of lobbying is an important factor for disciplining/curbing the undue (illicit) influence of different interest groups on the political-making process, especially in countries with post-communist and nonconsolidated democracies such as Albania. In three decades of political and economic transition from a one-party communist system to a democratic one and towards a market economy, the democratization of Albania has faced various problem…Read more
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221Gerti Sqapi - Who Needs Ideologies in Albanian PoliticsPolis 19 (1): 57-67. 2020.One of the main features that has characterized the Albanian political scene during these three decades of democratization, has been the problematic relationship that political parties have had with political ideologies as a linkage mechanism to mobilize their electorate and secure votes in elections. The relationship of Albanian political parties with certain political ideologies can be described as strained and problematic. This has happened because such ideologies have either remained too “ti…Read more
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176Stateness before Democracy. A theoritical Perspective for Centrality of Stateness in the Democratization Process - The Case of AlbaniaEastern Journal of European Studies 10 (1): 45-65. 2019.The aim of this paper is to explore the connection between stateness (and its constituent attributes) and democracy by conceiving the effective state as an independent variable and a prerequisite for the success of a well-functioning democracy. Such a conditioning relationship between the state and the regime has often been subject to being neglected among many scholars of democratization, who have not considered the state as an important explanatory or at least obstructive variable for the succ…Read more
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507Value Pluralism and Liberalism: A Conflictual or a Supportive Connection between Them?Social Studies 17 (1): 119-125. 2023.One of the most fascinating debates in the field of political theory has been the one about the relationship between value pluralism and liberalism. Based on their different conceptions and definitions, various theorists have often theorized a tension in the relationship between pluralism and liberalism. On the one hand, liberal authors who believe in the universality of liberal values that have to do with the safeguard of freedom (conceived at least to some extent as “negative freedom”), in the…Read more
Gerti Sqapi
Tirana Business University
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Tirana Business UniversityAssociate Professor
European University of Tirana
Alumnus, 2016
Areas of Specialization
Political Science |
Democracy, Misc |
Areas of Interest
Political Science |
Democracy, Misc |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
Cultural Studies |