Public Administration Reforms in a Fragile Institutional Framework: The Case of Albania

The article analyses some specific issues of recent public administration development in Albania. Europeanization and transition are important circumstances for interplay between democratization, political stabilization and public administration reform. Key factors that influence public administration reform are identified and analyzed. There are several aspects of public administration that are analyzed: policy-making capacity and horizontal coordination at the central level, civil service system and the modernization of human potentials management, decentralization, and the rule of law in administrative procedures. The article argues that the problems of Albanian public administration are heavily influenced by historic legacy, especially from the communist period, and by the instability of political systems. The purpose of the analysis is to identify the priorities in reforming politico-administrative system in