Central - Local Government Relations and Decentralization in Albania

Central-Local government relations have been one of the main topics of discussion of scholars in the last decades. When we take a look at the theoretical aspect of decentralization and central-local relations we understand that the more they are developed, the better a country performs politically and economically. Scholars relate closely the decentralization process with the prosperity of a country. Central-local relations have a considerable importance on their own because they make the decentralization process possible. In a country where the relations between the central and local authorities are well balanced, decentralization process moves forward in a more confident manner. Albania is a country where central-local government relations experience obstacles of any kind. Among many problems, politicization and lack of reforms seem to damage these relations more than any other. As this study showed, there were several governments in Albania which promised a full reform in the local self-governance and decentralization area. However when it came to the implementation of these reforms, governments held back and pursued them only partly.