Institutionalisation and the Politics of Memory in Albania Elvin Gjevori, BA, MA School of Law and Government, Dublin City University Supervisor: Dr Iain McMenamin May 2014 Dissertation submitted for the award of PhD to Dublin City University Declaration of Work I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of PhD is entirely my own work, and that I have exercised reasonable care to ensure that the work is original, and does not to the best of my knowledge breach any law of copyright, and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. Signed: Elvin Gjevori ID: Date: ii Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the support granted by the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University between 2010 and 2014 to write this thesis. The School‟s financial, institutional, and academic assistance were instrumental in enabling me to undertake my research and receive the necessary training to complete this project. I am deeply thankful to my supervisor Dr Iain McMenamin for guiding me through my doctoral studies which tested both my intellect and character. I am grateful to Iain for allowing me to research what I cared about and for teaching me how to go about doing it. Without him this process would have been neither as rewarding and nor as successful. I would like to thank my friends and colleagues who helped me - some academically and some by patiently listening - to navigate through the doctoral zig zags of the past four years. I would like to particularly thank Gëzim Visoka and Cristina Bucur for being good friends willing to support and help me each time I needed them. A special recognition goes to all my friends back in Albania who did not forget about me, always supported me from far away, and made my summers memorable. A most special thank you goes to Chris Richter who throughout this period was always a great friend and a fantastic coach. Falenderimi më i veçantë i shkon familjes; babait, nënës dhe motrës sime. Mbështetja e tyre e pakursimtë dhe dashuria e pakushtëzuar më kanë dhënë vetëbesimin dhe përkushtimin e nevojshëm për të marrë përsipër sfida. Kjo temë është suksesi ynë i përbashkët. iii Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................................................................... vii Table of Figures ..................................................................................................................................................................... viii List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 A QUESTION OF INSTITUTIONALISATION .............................................................................................................. 2 1.2 INSTITUTIONALIST THEORIES AND INSTITUTIONALISATION ............................................................................ 3 1.2.2 Definition of Institutions .......................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3 ARGUMENT ........................................................................................................................................................................ 5 1.4 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ............................................................................................................................................ 6 CHAPTER 2 MAINSTREAM INSTITUTIONALIST APPROACHES ............................................................................... 8 2.1 A LACK OF ENGAGEMENT WITH INSTITUTIONALISATION ......................................................................................... 8 2.2 RATIONAL CHOICE INSTITUTIONALISM AND INSTITUTIONALISATION .................................................................... 8 2.3 HISTORICAL INSTITUTIONALISM AND INSTITUTIONALISATION ............................................................................. 12 2.4 SOCIOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONALISM AND INSTITUTIONALISATION ......................................................................... 16 2.5. DEGREES OF INSTITUTIONALISATION ........................................................................................................................ 18 2.6 CONCLUSION: THE NEED FOR A NEW APPROACH .................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 3 A New Account of Institutionalisation ........................................................................................ 22 3.1 PRE-INSTITUTIONALISATION THEORY ....................................................................................................................... 22 3.2 CONSTRUCTIVISM AND PREFERENCE FORMATION ................................................................................................... 24 3.3 COLLECTIVE MEMORY ................................................................................................................................................... 27 3.3.1 Traumatic Memories ............................................................................................................................................... 29 3.3.2 Conflicting Memories and Parcelisation ....................................................................................................... 30 3.3.3 Collective Memory in Discourse ........................................................................................................................ 32 3.3.4 Collective Memory as a Causal Mechanism ................................................................................................. 33 3.4 ELITE COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN ALBANIA ................................................................................................................. 34 3.4 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................................................... 36 iv Chapter 4 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................ 38 4.1 THE RESEARCH QUESTION ........................................................................................................................................... 38 4.2 RESEARCH DESIGN ......................................................................................................................................................... 38 4.2.1 Why Albania?................................................................................................................................................................ 39 4.2.2 How Many Cases? ....................................................................................................................................................... 41 4.3 THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE ........................................................................................................................................ 41 4.4 THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE ..................................................................................................................................... 43 4.5 CONTENT ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................................................... 44 4.6 DISCOURSE ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................................... 45 4.7 DATA COLLECTION AND CLASSIFICATION .................................................................................................................. 46 4.7.1 Some Contextual Notes ............................................................................................................................................ 50 4.8 CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 5 Judicial Reform....................................................................................................................................... 55 5.1 NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF JUDICIAL REFORM ......................................................................................................... 55 5.1.1 The Democratic Party’s First Term: 1992-1997 .......................................................................................... 57 5.1.2 The Socialist Party’s Judicial Reform 1997 – 2005 ..................................................................................... 62 5.1.3 Berisha’s Redemption – The Democratic Party’s Second Term 2005-2009 .................................... 66 5.2 CONCLUSION ON NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF JUDICIAL REFORM .......................................................................... 69 5.3 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE OF JUDICIAL REFORM ..................................................................................................... 70 5.3.1 Reforming Albania – The Democratic Party in Power 1992-1997.....................................................