Women’s political participation in Albania - barriers and constraints

Abstract

The political involvement of citizens is seen as an expression of their awareness of their rights, their ability to use democratic mechanisms, their respect for the rules, their ability to influence the socio-political reality. An interesting case study is Albania, a state for years characterised by a non-democratic political system, economically weak, repressive, but which has been implementing democratic governance mechanisms for years. The process of political transformation initiated at the beginning of the 1990s was followed by far-reaching changes that also included the empowerment of society and its political activism. The aim of the article is to identify the factors currently determining the level and nature of women’s political involvement, to analyse the impact of electoral quotas on women’s political participation and to diagnose the challenges and barriers related to women’s political participation. The article focuses on identifying both formal and informal barriers that inhibit women’s full participation in politics, despite the existence of legal frameworks designed to promote gender equality. The key research question is: what are the main barriers and constraints to women’s political participation in Albania and how do they affect the effectiveness of the gender equality mechanisms put in place? Based on an analysis of existing research and literature on the political situation of women in Albania, the article assumes that the quota system in Albania is effective in increasing women’s numerical representation, but that it does not eliminate the structural and cultural constraints that inhibit their real influence in politics. Furthermore, it was assumed that despite formal commitments to gender equality, patriarchal social norms continue to limit women’s political aspirations, leading to their marginalisation in decision-making processes, and that the lack of adequate economic and institutional resources is one of the main factors limiting women’s full participation in Albanian politics.