ABSTRACT
In its just over a century long history as a modern state, Albania has exercised only slightly more than three decades of democracy. The concept of local and democratic governance in the country is relatively new, and its establishment has experienced various kinds of electoral patterns. In general, local elections in Albania are held competitively, though in a somewhat volatile and polarized political climate. The party system approximates to two plus one, often favoring a coalition government. The local party system mirrors that at the national level, albeit with a larger share of smaller parties on the local councils. The dynamics of local elections and voting continue to be strongly influenced by their national political agenda. The current opposition claims that the local elections of 2019 are invalid, having boycotted them and walked out of parliament, and is awaiting a verdict from the Constitutional Court (reestablished on 23/12/.2020 after an absence of three years), which is expected to deal with this issue as one of its first cases. Meanwhile, changes have been made to the electoral code (in July and October 2020).
