By Ada Huibregtse
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
I. Government Stewardship
Two decades after the fall of communism, peoples’ perception about government’s performance of its main task of ensuring the personal security, living standards, quality education and health services for its citizens has changed. People’s perceptions about this change, however, do not follow consistent patterns across different dimensions capturing government’s duties toward its citizens. This section of questions focuses on the role of the government in providing the personal security of citizens, adequate living standards, quality education, and quality health services.
The first question of the survey seeks to capture the degree of security that the government provides to its citizens in general terms. Data from this question indicate that responders’ perceptions about their government’s commitment to provide their personal security has not changed much from prior to 1991. Thirty-seven percent of all respondents think that the government before 1991 was highly or very highly committed to guaranteeing their personal security compared to 33% that share the same opinion in 2010.
Question 1
An analysis accounting for the age group presents a somewhat different picture. Respondents of age 18 through 35 years old were excluded from the analysis, because they have very little or no basis for comparison. In this second group, about 33% of the respondents think that the Albanian government was highly or very highly committed to ensuring personal security of its citizens prior to 1991 compared to 43% for until 2010.
The perception difference between periods (prior to 1991 and until 2010) accounting for the age groups: 18-35 years old and 36 and over, is statistically significant. This indicates that respondents’ experience or lack of experience of the communist regime has an influence on their perception about government commitment to ensuring personal security or citizens. Respondents that have no or little personal experience with the communist regime believe that that regime was more committed to ensuring personal security of citizens than those that have experience it. This tendency of the young respondents can be explained by several factors. Young people may be somewhat disenchanted with the current reality. As a result, they choose to idealize the communist regime precisely because, having no bases for comparison, they can ‘safely’ claim lower government commitment in this regard after 1990.
Question 1 by age group
It is important, however, to note that respondents perceive today’s threats mostly in economic terms rather than as a physical danger from the government. About 56% of the respondents believe that they live under some kind of threat. Over 60% of them identify the source of this threat as either lack of money, imminent loss of job, or housing problems. Political violence and violence in the neighborhood have been selected by 5.3% of the respondents only. While 88.7% of the respondents perceive the state to have been a danger to citizens prior to 1991, only 27.6% share the same perception for the period after 1990.
Question 29
The question tapping on respondents’ perception about the government’s commitment to ensure adequate living standards for its citizens reveals that a clear majority of respondents, 62%, think that prior to 1991 the government was little and/or very little committed to providing adequate living conditions for its citizens. Respondent’s perception about this is reversed about the period 1991-2010. Thus, after 1990, the number of respondents thinking that the government is little or very little committed has decreased to 30%. About 27% of respondents think that the government is highly committed to guaranteeing adequate living conditions after 1991 compared to 7% that hold this view for the period before the fall of communism. This difference is statistically and qualitatively significant, indicating that there is a real change in people’s perception about this issue. Accounting for age difference, results do not differ significantly. There is plenty of information available to the public about the low living standards prior to 1991, thus no cohort differences appear in the data.
Question 2
The quality of education before 1991 is valued highly by a large number of respondents. 42 percent of Albanians have a positive view of the quality of education during communism, compared to 20% that hold the same view for 1991-2010. Twice more respondents (42%) regard the quality of education in 1991-2010 as average, while 25% value it little and 9% very little. On the other hand, only 26% evaluate the quality of education during communism as low or very low.
Question 3
After 1990, the education system in Albania has undergone numerous structural, decentra-lization and curriculum reforms that have had several positive effects and few unintended negative effects. While unintended effects may have something to do with a less positive view of education in 1991-2010, perception of increased corruption in the education system can be another important reason for such a view.
When accounting for cohort difference one notices that appreciation for the quality of education prior to 1991 is reduced to 34 % among the group 35 yrs of age and above, a statistically significant difference. For 1991-2010, the value for the quality of education remains at the same levels. The older cohort has a less favorable view of the quality of education prior to 1990 than the younger cohort. The older cohort has several systems of reference for the comparison of the Albanian education systems in both periods, while the younger cohort, most likely, compares the current Albanian education system with the well-established Western education system, while having no basis for comparison for the communist education system.
Question 3 by age group
The opinion of Albanians on the quality of health services for the period before 1991 and for 1991-2010 differs. About 30% of the respondents value the quality of health services during communism highly or very highly. Almost the same number of respondents (31%) thinks that health services quality in the same period is low or very low. This picture is different for 1991-2010. About 52% of respondents think of quality of health services in 1991-2010 as low or very low, while only 23% of them value it highly or very highly. This difference in perception about the two periods in all categories is statistically significant. The dissatisfaction with the health services can be attributed to poor quality of care, the existence of under-the-table payments and the persistence of geographical inequities.
Question 4
The cohort that has experienced communism has a better perception about quality of health services prior to 1991 than the perception the younger cohort holds for the same period. About 40% of the older cohort believes that the quality of health services prior to 1991 was high or very high. Only 20% of the younger cohort holds the same view. Visible accessibility coupled by perceived “free” health service prior to 1991 may be few reasons for such diverse perception about health services by the older cohort.
Question 4 by age group
II Citizens Rights and Democracy
This section focuses on citizens’ rights and democratization in Albania. This set of questions aims to identify the degree to which citizens could/can enjoy their rights in each period and the role of the state in providing or infringing those rights. Furthermore, we seek to establish whether there have been changes in regards to respect citizens’ rights and degree of such change, if any. Lastly, we scrutinize few questions about democratization and actors that have affected it.
The respondents have very consistent views regarding citizens’ rights. They recognize gross violation of their rights during the communist period and the significantly large improvement made during the democratic transition. Accordingly, isolation from the outside world and threat from the state have diminished significantly from prior to 1991 to after 1990. Simultaneously, freedom of speech and freedom of religion have been significantly enhanced in 1991-2010. There is almost no cohort difference in perception of rights and freedoms.
The first question of this section looks at the degree of Albania’s isolation from the outer world. There are no surprises in respondent answers. During communism Albania was almost completely isolated. People were not allowed to travel abroad or to receive from and transmit information to the outer world. After 1990, and especially in the last decade, information exchange with the rest of the world has increased significantly. This is reflected in the answers of 74% respondents stating that Albanians were highly or very highly isolated prior to 1991. For 1991-2010, less than 13% of the respondents think that Albanians are highly or very highly isolated from the outer world. About 66% of them think that Albanians are little or very little isolated in the same period. One can suspect that the number of those thinking that Albanians are little or very little isolated from the outside world in 1991-2010 could have been higher if the survey was conducted in the verge of or after visa liberalization. Perceptions of different cohorts about this question are almost identical.
Question 5
The following data looks at the degree of threats coming from the state. This question taps on threats coming from torture, arbitrary detention, political violence, political imprisonment, and executions. During communism, thousands of people were imprisoned, punished to internal exile, or executed for political and/or arbitrary reasons in order to establish and maintain the power of the Communist Party. A majority of 69% responded that the life of citizens was highly or very highly threatened by the state during communism. The percentage of respondents that think that Albanians are highly or very highly threatened in 2010, on the other hand, is as low as 8%. Only 28% of the respondents think that Albanians’ lives are somewhat threatened by the state in 1991-2010.
Question 6
Again, there are no surprises regarding the degree of state interference with individual rights prior to 1990 and in 1991-2010. A majority of 74% of respondents think that individual rights were infringed upon by the state during communism, while this number has fallen to 9% for 1991-2010. About 69% of respondents think that those rights were little or very little infringed upon by the state in 2010.
Question 7
Differences in respondent’s perceptions about freedoms in the two periods under investigations are clear when looking at freedom of speech or freedom of religion. Data show that the majority of respondents believe that during the communist system there was very little or little freedom of speech. The extent to which Albanians perceive their ability to enjoy freedom of speech in 1991-2010 is either high or very high. Thus, 72% of respondents state that Albanians had little or very little freedom of speech during communism, while the percentage of those thinking that Albanians were highly or very highly free to speak their minds barely reaches 4%. Under communist rule, speaking one’s mind was highly associated with harsh consequences ranging from internment to imprisoning or execution. The fall of communism allowed for the situation to change. For 1991-2010, 74% of the respondents said that Albanians enjoy freedom of speech to a high or very high extent.
