An Anthropological-Institutional Overview of Communism and Political Pluralism in Albania
Authors: Kabo Përparim 
Published: April 2017

The individual in communism was deformed from extreme collectivism and sterilizing ideology! The service toward the cause of communism on this individual was engrafted with a feeling of love for the regime. In these circumstances was created “idol-ideology” and “idol-leadership.” This kind of morality and education shaped and mal-nurtured the isolated and submissive individual, a politicized one; the individual that considered himself as a member of the armada with epochal historical mission. The communist system of “Popular Democracy,” resurrected the ancient feature of our anthropology built during the ruling of the Ottoman Empire period: “serving and being under command!” So much as the individuals entered into a race with one-another to serve the Party, and in hierarchic order from bottom-up, to serve directly the leadership, even more the main leader. This type of competition was complete with the vice, because of the cultural differences, the routine part of anthropology acted upon the lead of a negative energy, materialized through: lies, slander, intrigues, traps, unfaithfulness, and hate. Serventhood reawakened the ottoman mechanism of serving and faithfulness on family basis, family heritage, on kinship, regionally and nepotistic relationships. The long absence of freedom, as a natural social breathing, as a co-existential instrumental mechanism that widens the spectrum of legal action, the purpose of which is the respect for human rights and their realization with main feature the human dignity and prosperity, nevertheless could not have left traces upon the individual and collective conscience. The elongated historical authoritarianism and the permanent absence of democratic system, the fearful isolation in communism, the absence of any private property, the absence of the freedom of speech: including the religious one, had shaped the Albanian anthropologic-individual deeply deformed and totally unprepared for liberal democracy. All of this situation made the anarchy to be displayed as form of weakness to be oriented. Anthrop-anarchy was created as a transitional form of anthropological groups, which left behind the classical and ideological forms of the organization in communism, and in contact with the free-market economy, with the freedom of movements, with the open society for change; being an unprepared anthropology and lead by incompetent policy-making, occurred that these anthropological groupings to take intermediate forms, illusive traits, unstable structures. Anthrop-anarchy entered in a battle to be legalized by bending the state in its knees, which by its decisions legalized the informality: property and economic wise. So, the footpath was opened for the anarchic individual, who appeared as promoter of the Albanian society in transition. Politics accepted this pressure, because they continue to count their votes. Differently from all of the former Eastern Communist countries, Albania is the only one that has informal property problems in national level. The authoritative power has more dispositions to legalize the informal properties, rather than support by law the legal owners. There are more than 300,000 informal buildings that have been included in the legalization process. This informal reality with national dimensions, shows that in Albania still it is not understood that private property is 9/10 law and 1/10 asset. This is an assassination against the legal statehood. This situation helps to understand why the “democracy through law” does not function. The political parties have morphed in market accessories. Even worse, this mechanism has changed into a system, therefore in Albania there are no poor politicians. Another feature of political party pluralism is the absence of political relativism. The parties sell their ideas and programs as an absolute truth. In these political climate is impossible the function the cultural political pluralism. This is why, the democracy in Albania cannot be considered as functional or simply fragile one. That is an authoritarian democracy that is fed by the exclusiveness philosophy, and that creates conflictual actions, that often end “beheaded” by Ottoman style! It is necessary that the change to create a liberal democracy system must start from education on law, rules, and constitutionality. We must cross the bridge from an Oriental inherited education to a Western Civilization one!