By Ada Huibregtse
Question 8
Data about freedom of religion point to a same situation as that of freedom of speech. Freedom of religion is highly or very highly enjoyed in 1991-2010, but very little or little prior to 1991. The practice of religion was outlawed by the communist government in 1967, making Albania the world’s first officially atheist state. Almost 90% of the respondents said that Albanians had little and/or very little freedom of religion before 1991. After the collapse of one-party state in 1991, the ban on religion was lifted, resulting in a gradual revival of religious practice. Over 79% of the respondents stated that they enjoy freedom of religion in 1991-2010.
Question 9
The study’s interesting and unexpected data relates to the practice of religion in Albania. It finds 30 percent of Albanian citizens do not practice any religious rites, while 48 percent say they do so several times a year, or only on special occasions. The survey also finds 44 percent of respondents consider themselves Muslim, 30 percent Christian Orthodox and 19 percent Catholic, while nine percent say they do not belong to any faith. Of course this data cannot be translated into the official separation of Albanians in the different religions, but one trend is certain: Albanian Muslims, who practice the faith to a degree or another, make up the majority of Albanians but this majority does not lie in the high percentages that are generally perceived or accepted.
A functional familial nucleus is considered an important element of the fabric of society, social capital, and the political development of a society. Respondents were asked to express their views on the strength of the family prior to 1991 and in 1991-2010. The opinion about the Albanian family now and then differs sharply. A majority of 77% believe that Albanians had a strong or very strong family before 1991. Only 19% think the same for 1991-2010. Almost half of the citizens, 47%, think that the Albanian family is moderately strong, while 28% state that it is weak or very weak in 1991-2010.
Question 10
One must be cautious to draw conclusions about relations between family strength and political developments in Albania based on these data only. The Albanian family might seem strong, especially prior to 1991. Family is a social- and political-learning context. Thus patterns of familial communication, democratic versus authoritarian, provide us with more meaningful information for understanding the patterns of political life of a country than the strength of the family. Family strength prior to 1991 was closely related to the hierarchical and patriarchal organization of the family, which is strongly reflected in the authoritarian nature of the communist regime. The so-called weakening of the family in 1991-2010 is associated with a weakening of the hierarchical and patriarchal structure of the family and increased democracy within the family. Such developments are also reflected in increased democratic patterns of relations in the Albanian polity.
Horizontal trust, defined as trust that citizens have in their fellow citizens, is an important element of a democratic society. The stronger the horizontal trust, the stronger the democratic system. To capture the level of horizontal trust of Albanians in their fellow citizens, respondents were asked the question: “To what extent did/do citizens trust each-other prior to 1991 and in 1991-2010?” About 68% of respondents state that during communism citizens trusted each other highly or very highly. Only 2% of the respondents think the same for 1991-2010, while 82% state that citizens’ trust is low or very low for that same period.
Question 11
During the communist regime a deep horizontal distrust existed in regards to politically-charged issues. Albanians that did not agree with the regime or any of its principles were very reluctant to express their real concerns or disagreements to their fellow citizens. Yet, this is not captured in the responses to this question. Most likely, this question has captured trust on economic and social relations existing then in the society. After 1990, the situation reversed. Because of widely respected freedom of speech, there were no concerns about expressing political views. Trust in economic and social transactions was more difficult to achieve. After 1990, juridical state institutions replaced social and cultural institutions guaranteeing inter-citizen economic and social transactions. Thus lack of citizens’ trust in each other in 1991-2010, can be a result of citizens lack of trust in juridical state institutions. Accountable institutions that are respected by most citizens can bind citizens, that otherwise would be strangers, together. As succeeding sections of this work show, due to institutional weakness and widespread corruption, there is little trust or respect in juridical state institutions.
Previous questions laid foundations for questions on the Albanian democratic transitions. Respondents’ answers note that necessary elements for democracy such as individual freedoms were established in Albania after 1990. They also note that inter-personal trust also necessary for a consolidated democracy is very weak. Answers to the question on the level of democracy in Albania, show that almost 57% of respondents think of Albania as more of a democratic than a non-democratic state. Almost 23% of the respondents classify Albania as a full-fledged democratic state. Only less than 21% think of Albania as a less of a democratic state.
Question 26
Theories of democratization assign domestic factors a more important role than international factors. Yet, respondents to this survey think that progress in democratization is equally attributed to domestic and international actors. Thus, 49% of respondents believe that the international community has played the most important role in the Albanian democratization. Among the domestic factors, 28% of respondent attribute the most important role to the citizens, 12% to the two main parties and 9% to the government. Some factors that may have caused respondents to weight international actor as heavily as all domestic actors taken together are the lack of trust in political institutions, persistent political conflict at party and personal level, institutional weakness, and continuous calls to international actors for conflict mediation and resolution between the Albanian political parties.
Question 27
Struggle for power is the single greatest problem in the Albanian politics today, as identified as such by 35% of respondents. This is followed by lack of free and fair elections with 19%, and lack of democratic experience (13%). The leader of the Democratic Party and currently prime minister is seen by 11% of those questioned as the biggest problem. Six percent think the same for Edi Rama, the socialist party leader. The politicians in general are seen only by a minority of 5% as a problem. Contentious politics and the boycott of the parliament by the Socialist Party after general elections of June 2009 may be one of the main reasons for identifying the power struggle and lack of free and fair elections as the main problems of Albanian politics today. This survey suggests that the importance placed upon individual leaders by a number of scholars, practitioners, and journalists does not necessarily fit with the respondents views. The chairman of the Socialist Party is identified as a problem by almost as many respondents that have identified the class of politicians as a problem. The Chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha has been identified as a problem from twice as much as those identifying the general class of politicians or Edi Rama. This is not a surprise, because parties in power or their leaders holding the highest governmental positions are more often identified as causes of political problems than the opposition leaders or parties are. Also, the leader of the DP has had a longer and more important political life than the leader of the SP. Therefore, it is expected that the DP leader will be more often identified with political problems than the SP leader.
Question 28
III Economy
The third section of this survey focuses on the economy, property rights, and ways of becoming rich. Data reveal that respondents think that Albanian living and economic conditions have improved in 1991-2010 compared to prior to 1990. Yet, most respondents are not satisfied with the direction the Albanian economy has taken since 1991. They are dissatisfied with the results of redistribution of property, blatant corruption in local government and courts, and inadequate legislation.
Data show that there is a great difference in living standards prior to 1991 and after 1991. About 75% of respondents describe living conditions prior to 1991 as bad or very bad. Only 2% of respondents think that living conditions in the same period were good. Albanians regard the living conditions in 2010 to have considerably improved in comparison with the period before 1991. About 73% of respondents regard their living conditions as good, while 41.1% regard them as moderate. Only 23.8% of the respondent said that their living conditions are bad in 2010.
Question 12
Responses about the overall economic situation of Albania prior to 1991 and in 1991-2010 mirror that of living standards. In 1991-2010, the overall economic situation has improved considerably from prior to 1991. The majority of respondents, 75%, describe the general economic situation before 1990 as bad or very bad, 19% as moderate, and only 2% as good. The economic situation for 1991-2010 is described as good by 31% of respondents, as moderate by 25%, and as bad and/or very bad by 34%.
Question 13
Although respondents recognize that living standards and the overall economic situation in Albania have considerably improved since 1991, they are mostly dissatisfied with the direction that the economy has taken in the last period. Thus, 33.4% of respondents are dissatisfied, and 27% very dissatisfied with the direction of the economy. Almost 30% of respondents and 21.5% view the course Albania has taken in regards to the economy as satisfying or moderately satisfying.
The People on State and Democracy study is based primarily on the findings of a national survey conducted in September and October 2010. It is also based on research AIIS undertook during 2010. The survey was conducted using face-to face interviews with 1,200 respondents (aged 18 +). The survey took place in 12 main cities in Albania, including respective rural areas, which correspond to the current administrative division of the country’s 12 counties.
Although the sample of 1,200 respondents was selected at random and is representative of the population, it is hard to find a fully scientifically viable sample in Albania if you account for the high mobility of the population, including the fact that at least 33 percent of Albanian citizens live abroad – mainly in Greece and Italy, but many other countries as well. Meanwhile, population mobility within Albania makes it even more difficult to protect scientific standards in a national survey. There are currently no accurate or uncontested statistics on the population quotas for each region, city or village in Albania. Most of the respondents of this survey, 69 percent, gave a city as their place of residence, while the rest, 31 percent, said they resided in the countryside. But in the case of Albania this cannot be interpreted as the percentage of the population split between villages and cities. Most Albanian villages have been almost deserted in the past twenty years. In today’s Albania there is thus no clarity on the drawing of boundaries between cities and the countryside around major cities, where most of the population has concentrated in these twenty years of transition.1
An additional difficulty in conducting a national survey in Albania is the risk of the politicisation of findings and the thorny issues this creates. The implementation of this project was based on the work of AIIS’ own experts, who have extensive experience with surveys over the past ten years, as well as on qualified external expertise, which was especially utilised during the drafting of the questionnaire and the selection of the survey sample.
