By, Associate Professor Dr. Belina BUDINI
EDITORIAL
In this issue of Polis Journal (number 22/2) we are focusing on the Albanian and European Identities. Papers reflect upon perspectives in the fields of Communication, Education, International Relations, and Cultural studies. Albania, as a candidate country for membership of the European Union, has made some progress in aligning its laws and regulations with the EU “Acquis Communautaire”. However, challenges remain, particularly in the areas of democratic institutional building. Political and civil society actors are brought into question in the article by Mirela Bogdani emphasizing the lack of legitimacy and the unreliability of political parties and other domestic actors, that have increasingly amplified the importance of the International Community as an external actor in Albania. From within a critical stance, she argues that the inability of local actors to deal with domestic challenges and cooperate with one another have ‘promoted’ this actor, which has been trying to fulfill the role of facilitator and mediator that the state institutions have proved unable to perform. The article focuses on the role of the International Community as a pivotal and reliable actor in democratic transition in Albania, analyzing the role of various actors in the democratization process in Albania, with specific emphasis on one key participant which has played a significant role throughout the three-decade transition period. Therefore, the paper argues that legitimacy in Albania lies with the international community and its verdict tends to be considered as final. Furthermore, the author analyses the impact and influence exerted by the two most significant external actors: the European Union, because of Albania’s aspirational EU membership, steering reforms and providing financial assistance; and the United States, which, through its diplomats and ambassadors, has been very proactive in Albanian politics, helping the country to overcome persistent problems as corruption and organized crime, and more recently the judiciary reform. The paper concludes that Albanian road towards democratization could have had a different trajectory without the involvement and guidance of the international community pushing for and directing reforms. While acknowledging the significance of assistance from external driving forces, the article suggests that the primary onus for the progress of a country should rest upon its domestic actors.
Published on 23 December 2023
By, Prof. Assoc. Mirela BOGDANI
Abstract
The paper analyses the role of various actors in the democratization process in Albania, with specific emphasis on one key participant. It is structured into three distinctive sections: the first identifies the domestic actors in the beginning of transition, such as the political class, civil society, knowledge elite, media etc, highlighting the political class as the most powerful and influential of them. However, the paper argues that instead of being a reliable and responsible factor in the process of democratization and integration, the Albanian political elite has shown a chronic lack of responsibility, willingness, professionalism and commitment to tackle the country’s major problems. Its primary objective has been its own self-interest and self-preservation. On the other hand, since Albania opened up to the world, another actor has been crucial for the country, the international community. The subsequent section focuses on this external actor, which has played a significant role throughout the three-decade transition period. It asserts that inability of local actors to deal with domestic challenges and cooperate with one another have ‘promoted’ this actor, which has been trying to fulfill the role of facilitator and mediator that the state institutions have proved unable to perform. The lack of legitimacy and the unreliability of political parties and other domestic actors have increasingly amplified the importance of this actor. Therefore, the paper argues that legitimacy in Albania lies with the international community and its verdict tends to be considered as final. This is also reflected in public opinion surveys, indicating that Albanian citizens trust much more international than national institutions. The third section analyses the impact and influence exerted by the two most significant external actors: the European Union, whose significance escalated notably post-2000 owing to Albania’s aspirational EU membership, steering reforms and providing financial assistance; and the United States, which, through its diplomats and ambassadors, has been very proactive in Albanian politics, helping the country to overcome persistent problems as corruption and organized crime, and more recently the judiciary reform. The paper concludes that Albanian road towards democratization could have had a different trajectory without the involvement and guidance of the international community pushing for and directing reforms. While acknowledging the significance of assistance from external driving forces, the primary onus for the progress of a country should rest upon its domestic actors.
Keywords: International community, domestic actors, political class, transition, democratization, European integration, the European Union, the United States.
Published on 23 December 2023
By, Dr. Malvina TEMA
Abstract
This paper is an effort to investigate the principal challenges associated with further enlargement of the European Union. The specific focus of the analysis is the case of Turkey as a real dilemma for the EU. The eastward expansion of the European Union poses multi-dimensional concerns. These concerns relate to political, economic, cultural and geostrategic delicate questions that are perceived as crucial issues for the Union. However, it should be pointed that this is a game that cannot be played unilaterally by a single actor such as the EU. It also depends on how Turkey will play the game of integration which –however- is principally led by the Union. Considering this, the paper is organised in four main sections. The first section introduces political challenges from the EU enlargement towards Turkey, the second section introduces economic challenges and it is followed by the two last sections with geostrategic and identity issues ending with some brief conclusions.
Keywords: European Union; Turkey; Enlargement; Political Challenges; Economic Challenges; Geostrategic Challenges; Identity\Cultural Challenges.
Published on 23 December 2023
By, Phd (c). Dritan IDRIZI, Prof. Assoc. Dr. Tomi TRESKA
Abstract
Purpose: Since advertising to children and adolescents has become ubiquitous, scholars who study the significance and influence of adverts on children raise questions about the communication approach towards this category of the audience. This study focuses on two national TV stations which have the highest number of viewers and consequently the highest number of advertisements and time dedicated to it. Some of the adverts repeatedly broadcast on these television channels do not comply with the ethical standards of MES or the legal framework for Audiovisual Media in the Republic of Albania. Design/Methodology/Approach: The method used in this case study is the observational method – the monitoring of the national TV media stations during particular time slots. Findings: The findings and recommendations will be relevant to all the stakeholders. Originality/value: Advertisements in time slots, in which children are actively watching television, are not in accordance with the ethics that are trumpeted by the law on pre-university education and the law on audio-visual broadcasts. We can identify the violation of some articles of the law on which the Audiovisual Media Authority operates.
Keywords: TV adverts, communication, education, children, legal framework.
Published on 23 December 2023
By, Kejvin JAKU
Abstract
Purpose: This study investigates the challenges that Albania faces in economic development, social changes, and media transparency in a democratic, post-communist society. The analysis draws on contemporary historical sources, human rights reports, academic studies, news articles, and official governmental and nongovernmental publications, correlating these findings with Albania’s journey toward democratization. Findings: The essay identifies the economic repercussions of communist governance, including prevalent unemployment and fragile market structures. It explores the social impact, linking them to issues like suppression, fear, and weakened trust in the contemporary government. Originality/Value: This article provides an analysis of the challenges in post-communist Albania, focusing on social and economic developments and media coverage. It suggests targeted strategies for the government to strengthen democratic institutions.
Keywords: Albania, democracy, post-communism, development, media, freedom, transparency.
Published on 23 December 2023
By, MSc. Redona ZHULEKU (SAKULI), Dr. Elsida SINAJ
Abstract
Work overload or burnout can result from the numerous and conflicting expectations placed on nurses by medical and administrative staff in addition to nurse supervisors and managers. Research conducted on nurses reveals that a significant factor in determining the level of burnout they encounter is their personal and professional ideals. In emerging nations, burnout-related work issues are becoming more prevalent in helping professions like nursing. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between social welfare and burnout caused by stress. This essentially means that managers and supervisors in the medical, administrative, and nursing fields place a number of contradicting demands on nurses in their professions. Overwork or burnout may result from this. Plan, process, and approach: Investigating if QSUT nurses feel burnout, stress, and social support is the aim of the quantitative study. There are 100 nurses in total taking part in the study 42 males and 58 women. Design/methodology/approach: The purpose of the quantitative study is to investigate if QSUT nurses experience Burnout, Stress, and Social Support. There are 100 nurses participating in the study in total (42 men and 58 women). Findings: Analysis through the T-Test showed that there are gender differences in depletion reporting, where t (98) = 3.123, p<.05, and higher stress, where t(98)=-1.113, p<.05. So, it’s women who report higher levels of stress. This analysis also showed that there are differences in personal achievement reporting, where t(98)= 3.629, p<.05. Men report higher levels of personal achievement because they have more confidence in their skills and show more ego in career performance in this profession. Analysis through the T-Test showed that there are gender differences in reporting the alliance you can rely on, where t (98) = 2.576, p<.05 and support for your values, where t(98)= 2.003, p<.05. So, it is men who report higher levels of support and support values. Men find themselves more socially supported and see themselves as a source of support for others. The results for regression/stress at work supported the hypothesis that levels of social support (social integration, support for your values) are associated with burnout variables and social integration is the most important factor affecting increased stress at work.
Keywords: Burnout, Stress and Social Support
Published on 23 December 2023
By, Phd Ermir NIKA
The subject of this novel takes shape and begins and elaborates on an event in the 90s, when Genci Skampa, a reporter in a daily newspaper, is invited to a meeting of journalists from the Balkan Peninsula in the capital of France, Paris. The events and destinies of the characters, who sometimes surrender to memory and sometimes return to objective reality, follow a trajectory that is not at all chronological, moving from Tirana, towards Beijing, then towards Paris and vice versa. However, the road remains one and only, and the main theme of this work is about the life of the Albanian student in Beijing during the 60s, of the last century, centred on the university corps of that city, where young people who came almost from prosperous communist countries world, they experience redemption and freedom for the first time, but this freedom remains conditioned under the unspeakable atmosphere for the mentality of these teenagers, that of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. At that time, i.e. in his student years, the young Albanian Genci Skampa met and fell in love with the elegant Chinese student, Sui Lin.
In the chapters of this novel, all the deformations of living as well as the occasional contrasts are arranged somewhat carelessly: the permanent pressure exerted by the wild discipline, the silent temptations, but also the spiritual and psychological related disturbances that one experiences during the experience of first love. At the same time, some elements and phenomena make up a somewhat separate world, forged by events and people who leave behind indelible traces, imbued with pronounced notes of lyricism and drama at the same time, gradually transforming into shadows of the past that haunts the protagonist of this novel on his way back from Beijing to Tirana, but also that of his departure years later from Tirana to Paris, to crucify the main character forever in the memory.
Keywords: love, Albanian, Chinese, student, memory.
Published on 23 December 2023