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MASARYK UNIVERSITY, BRNO Thesis Topic: the Influence of The MASARYK UNIVERSITY, BRNO Faculty of Social Studies Department of International Relations and European Studies Thesis topic: The influence of the electoral system on the party system in Albania Author: Gerti Peshkopia (učo 390600) Field of Study: FSS EP European Politics (Eng.) Programme: Master's degree programme Supervisor: PhDr. Věra Stojarová, Ph.D. I hereby declare that this thesis I submit for assessment is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Date: Signature: - 1 - Acknowledgments My first acknowledgment goes to my supervisor, Professor Vera Stojarova, for all her help and suggestions about this thesis. I have to thank her for the encouragement for I have learned a lot from her experience. I want to express my gratitude to the academic and technical staff of the Masaryk University. It has been a valuable and unforgettable experience. In addition I want to thank my colleagues that have been very kind to me, especially the Albanian colleagues in Brno. Last, but not least I want to thank my Family who have strongly supported and believed in me during this long and difficult way, especially my friend, Eda Lika. Without their help I couldn’t reach the end. Thank you all - 2 - Abstract This thesis is focused in parliamentary elections of Albania since 1990. It deals with the electoral systems and the party systems in general. The research question of the thesis is: What impact had different electoral systems on party system of Albania in the period 1991 – 2014. A special focus is given to the electoral systems used in Albania for eight parliamentary elections and their effects in the party systems. The selection of the electoral systems is, almost, depended on the preferences of the two main parties. They have a strong influence in the management of the electoral process. The more proportional the electoral system, the bigger is the number of parties represented in the parliament and better representation of the vulnerable groups according to the party spectrum. Keywords: Albania, electoral system, party system, political parties. - 3 - Abbreviations ACE Electoral Knowledge Network AV Alternative Vote BC Borda Count BV Block Vote CEC Central Election Commission DP Democratic Party SP Socialist Party MMP Mixed Member Proportion MP Member of Parliament LPA Labor Party of Albania LIST PR List Proportional Representation LV Limited Vote MMP Mixed Member Proportional FPTP First Past The Post OSCE Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ODIHR Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights PBV Party Block Vote PR Proportional SNTV Single Non – Transferable Vote STV Single Transferable Vote - 4 - TRS Two-Round System “Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.” Abraham Lincoln - 5 - Table of Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................... - 2 - Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... - 3 - Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................... - 4 - 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ - 7 - 2. Parties and party systems ............................................................................................................... - 9 - 2.1 Conceptualization of political parties ....................................................................................... - 9 - 2.2 Conceptualisation of party systems ........................................................................................ - 12 - 2.3 Parties and party system in Albania ........................................................................................ - 16 - 2.3.1 Historical political parties in Albania ................................................................................ - 16 - 2.3.2 Party system since 1991 ................................................................................................... - 18 - 2.3.3 Political reality of the Socialist Party ................................................................................ - 20 - 2.3.4 Political reality of the Democratic Party .......................................................................... - 23 - 2.3.5 Political reality of the Republican Party ........................................................................... - 24 - 2.3.6. Political reality of the Human Rights Union Party .......................................................... - 25 - 2.3.7. Political reality of the Socialist Movement for Integration ............................................. - 25 - 3. Electoral systems .......................................................................................................................... - 26 - 3.1 Electoral system theories ........................................................................................................ - 26 - 3.2 The electoral systems used in Albania .................................................................................... - 42 - 3.3 Electoral behavior ................................................................................................................... - 47 - 4. The impact of electoral systems on party systems ....................................................................... - 51 - 5. Concluding remarks .................................................................................................................... - 77 - Bibliography ...................................................................................................................................... - 80 - - 6 - 1. Introduction The electoral process is an important tool of the democratic system to choose the representatives of the people. It is a process of selection and a decision by a group of citizens to select their representatives. Democracy as a main component provides the freedom for selection and the freedom of voting. The electoral process gives the opportunity for the population “to sit together in different period of times” and take decisions. The goal of the thesis is the introduction and analysis of the electoral and party systems in Albania since the democratic changes. The research question is: What impact had different electoral systems on party system of Albania in the period 1991 - 2014. I will focus on eight parliamentary elections, their results and the scores of the parties. The study presents in concise form the impact of the electoral systems on party system of Albania. Theories from three main authors (Giovanni Sartori, Maurice Duverger and Pippa Norris) will be analyzed for the development of the thesis. Giovanni Sartori party systems will be used in order of exploring the party systems used in Albania, by beginning from one party system in the communist regime, to multi party system from 1990 till the elections the last elections. Maurice Duverger is based in the organizational side of the political parties, and this will be brought in the Albanian context. Last, I will use Pippa Norris divisions for measuring the mechanical effect of the electoral systems on the party systems. The first chapter of the thesis will deal with parties and party systems in general. What the functions of the political parties are and how the party systems can be classified. Sartori makes a division between the number of the relevant parties and their ideological polarization. He makes a description of the parties in the political spectrum and created a typology consisting of six party systems. In the same chapter I will also deal with Maurice Duverger, the organizational side of the political parties. - 7 - The continuation of this chapter will be focused on the parties and party systems in Albania. The foundation of new parties in Albania dates back in 1920, the first party in Albania was called Progressive Party. During the years were created many new parties by reaching nowadays quite a high number with more than 66 registered parties. This chapter is followed by the political reality of the main relevant political parties. The third chapter will focus on the electoral systems. I will briefly describe the main types of an electoral system and its elements. There are different types of electoral systems beginning with the majority, then the mixed system (majority and proportional) and the proportional types. According to the elements of an electoral systems they are three, electoral formula, the ballot structure and the district magnitude. After that, I will focus on the electoral system during the communism period, its influence in the party system and its impact in the Albanian society. Following, I will deal with the democratic future of Albania after the fall of communism. The electoral system had changed very often by preserving the influence of two large parties. The fourth chapter of the diploma thesis will deal with the impact of the electoral systems on the party systems. In this part will be elaborated the whole final results
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