Developments in Albanian local government

This article describes the problems associated with the establishment of de centralised local government in postcommunist Albania. After presenting som e relevant historical and cultural information about Albania, communist and postcommunist government structures are described and compared. This is fo llowed by a description of the status, boundaries and powers of the various tiers of local administration and their relation to central government. An alysis of this information draws attention to similarities in structure and organisational culture between the communist periods and the present. It a ttributes the difficulties in rebuilding state structures to the unfamiliar nature of liberal democratic institutions and the lack of resources availa ble to the new state. The development of local government was constrained b y central government policies which resulted in tangled lines of accountabi lity, reductions in finding, restriction of ability to raise taxes and by l imiting sectors of responsibility. Despite an increase in democratically el ected institutions, central government sought to retain control and inhibit the devolution of power Poor transparency, lack of accountability and rest ricted access to information contributed to local government being held in low regard by the general public. The article concludes that it is unproduc tive to focus assistance on economic stabilisation without commensurate sup port for the development of democratic institutions.