Albania and European Social Model: Convergences and Divergences between different welfare states

Mgr. Jorida Skënderasi

Master's thesis

Abstract:

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of Soviet Union led most of the former communist countries from a totalitarian Soviet system to an open process, described by Huntington, as a process of a “third wave of democratization”. And Albania after 1990 faced with the necessity of installing a democratic political system. Democratization together with the transformation of the communist welfare-state were two objectives of the "new modern country" which immediately embraced the European values by expressing the wish to be a member of the European Union. This thesis aims to analyze the concept of European social model in order to identify its main meanings and different dimensions so related with the typologies of the welfare state. According to Esping-Andersen “there is no single pure case” in terms of a pure welfare state. There exist three kinds of such (liberal, conservative/corporatist and social-democratic) which can be manifested in different policies about social insurances, healthcare systems, education, social protection, employment policies, gender equality policies etc. In this regard I will try to analyze all these three including the main features in order to have a complete idea where the European Union member states remain in terms of the social policies. And then I'll try to compare this with the Albanian social model by firstly giving an overview of the communist state's social policy and then the major transformations till the recent years together with the outcomes. The aim of this comparison is to indicate if there is any converges or divergences between Albanian social model and the European one. On the other hand, it aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Albanian social model with the result of proposing of a new approach in order for this country to be closer to the European standards.

Abstract:

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of Soviet Union led most of the former communist countries from a totalitarian Soviet system to an open process, described by Huntington, as a process of a “third wave of democratization”. And Albania after 1990 faced with the necessity of installing a democratic political system. Democratization together with the transformation of the communist welfare-state were two objectives of the "new modern country" which immediately embraced the European values by expressing the wish to be a member of the European Union. This thesis aims to analyze the concept of European social model in order to identify its main meanings and different dimensions so related with the typologies of the welfare state. According to Esping-Andersen “there is no single pure case” in terms of a pure welfare state. There exist three kinds of such (liberal, conservative/corporatist and social-democratic) which can be manifested in different policies about social insurances, healthcare systems, education, social protection, employment policies, gender equality policies etc. In this regard I will try to analyze all these three including the main features in order to have a complete idea where the European Union member states remain in terms of the social policies. And then I'll try to compare this with the Albanian social model by firstly giving an overview of the communist state's social policy and then the major transformations till the recent years together with the outcomes. The aim of this comparison is to indicate if there is any converges or divergences between Albanian social model and the European one. On the other hand, it aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Albanian social model with the result of proposing of a new approach in order for this country to be closer to the European standards.

Keywords

European social model, social security, social policy, Albania, Albanian social model

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 15. 5. 2017

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 8. 6. 2017
• Supervisor: prof. PhDr. Vít Hloušek, Ph.D.
• Reader: Ph.D. Vratislav Havlík

Masaryk University

Faculty of Social Studies

Master programme / field:
Political Science / European Politics (Eng.)