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Kosovo is working toward meeting the requirements to align politically and economically with the EU. The strengthening of institutional quality is a requirement for fostering economic activity, advancing general development, and harmonizing Kosovo's governmental policies with those of the European Union. Through the quality of the services they provide, state institutions increase their credibility in front of citizens. This research analyzes the correlation between the perception of Kosovar consumers regarding the credibility of the services of state institutions (mandated to control the quality of local products) and the reflection of this perception in the attitude of consumers towards the purchase of local products. The research's findings are based on a survey-based analysis of students' opinions. The findings show that the trustworthiness of Kosovo consumers in the work of institutions is quite low, and as a result, their preferences to buy relatively few local products are influenced by this perception. The research suggests that current government policies to boost the production activity of local companies should be focused not only on offering fiscal, financial and administrative incentives, but also to be accompanied by genuine reformation of state agencies, primarily those covering the quality infrastructure area. This is because quality institutional services contribute to increasing consumers' confidence in the quality of local products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the fall of the communist regime in Eastern and Central Europe, a new geopolitical context was created on the European continent and beyond. These changes had important implications for the security and foreign policy dimension of the EU. The political turmoil that erupted in the former communist countries in the early '90s and especially the wars in the former Yugoslavia that began in 1991 highlighted the EU's lack of capabilities to respond to crisis management situations either in its own backyard or in other parts of the world. This was reaffirmed during the Kosovo war in 1998-99, where the EU failed to play any major role in resolving the conflict. Because of changes in the geopolitical landscape in its neighborhood and beyond, the EU began to increase its efforts to empower the foreign and security policy. In this regard, the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) - which is the subject of study in this paper - is of great significance. This is because EULEX is the largest civilian mission ever launched under Common Security and Defense Policy of the European Union, and is therefore an important exam through which the EU's capabilities in implementing these policies on the ground are tested. Analytical discussion takes place through a mixed methodology where both qualitative and quantitative methods are combined. The study highlights that the EULEX mission has faced significant challenges in terms of efficiency and public image, concluding that the lessons learned from the EULEX mission's work will serve as a valuable experience that can help the EU in its efforts to strengthen the Common Security and Defense Policy further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policy in democratic societies aims to create public value by providing quality public services, regulations and state-organized activities with the ultimate goal of creating a better service towards its citizens. Since policy failure has always been a concern for various scientists and researchers, this paper aims to contribute to improving the quality and efficiency of public policies by providing expertise to state institutions to ensure effectiveness, transparency, inclusiveness and accountability of the entire process. The health system is one of the main pillars of public policy of every country today, and this is especially noticeable after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the world, a problem which radically changed public policies and how are they percept. Kosovo as a new state faces various political and state-building challenges. The functioning of the health system is one of those challenges, which bared the main responsibility in dealing with pandemic. Therefore, the main focus of this paper will be to analyze the public policies introduced by health institutions and government bodies as response to the COVID 19 pandemic. In this regard we will try to answer some questions which are going to be raised within the paper such as how satisfied were the citizens with health policies in Kosovo, the readiness of the institutions and the professional staff engaged, knowledge and use of best practices. In order to obtain the information needed to justify the main objectives of the thesis, beside the content analysis and comparative methods, we are going to conduct a survey with officials and various institutional experts that were engaged in planning and implementation of the policies in time of Covid19 pandemic, as well as with people from private sector and that of civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government instability, or the duration of a government cabinet, is considered an important feature of democracy, and various authors have studied various alleged causes that affect government instability. This paper examines the impact that the electoral system - the way in which votes casted in national elections are translated into seats in the parliament - has on the instability of government in a democracy. Particularly, it examines the impact of the proportional electoral system on the instability of governments since governments formed in countries with this electoral system, in vast majority of cases, are coalition governments, with different parties, governance and legislative inefficiency due to internal conflicts and the continuing need for consensus. To examine the relationship between the proportional electoral system and government instability, the research for this paper employs different research methods. Following a literature review on the topic, it then focuses on comparative method where the cases of the impact of the electoral system on government stability in Kosovo and in North Macedonia, two neighbors in Southeast Europe with similar electoral system, size of population and number of registered voters, are examined and compared. The electoral system in both Kosovo and North Macedonia is a proportional system (List-PR). Kosovo had 7 different governments in 15 years, and North Macedonia had 10 different governments (including here 2 interim governments) in 20 years. These two cases confirm a correlation between the proportional electoral system that has always produced coalition governments in both countries, and the short duration of the two countries' governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union has grown in the number of its Member States since its creation some 60 years ago, from six to the current 28 member states, a process which has happened in different waves of enlargement. Enlargement continues to be an ongoing and open process. The European Union states that “enlargement policy applies to countries currently aspiring to join the EU and potential candidates”. EU has offered the prospect of membership to the six countries of the Western Balkans, initially in year 2000 and has confirmed it as lately as 2020. This European perspective was first offered during the Feira European Council in 2000, then it was confirmed by the Thessaloniki European Council in 2003. The prospect of membership has been confirmed by the EU on other more recent occasions. EU has offered the prospect of membership to the six countries of Western Balkans: Macedonia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia and Kosovo (with a footnote that refers to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244). The Western Balkans is a neighboring region with historic ties to the EU, however the cost of funding the aspirations of the poorer states and the possibility that these additional Member States weaken the coherence of the decision-making process within EU – due to increased number of positions and veto votes – make EU enlargement in the Western Balkans an interesting and important case study. The main hypothesis in this research is that EU hasn’t offered membership to the countries of the Western Balkans because of economic interests, but because of security or political interests. The hypotheses are within the theory of rationalism (the role of states, national interests, benefits, costs and bargains). The research used the official EU trade statistics data and reports of different international governmental and non-governmental organizations. The research found that although EU trade with Western Balkans has grown over the years, with EU exports to the Western Balkans doubled in the last 10 years, it still is not a significant element in EU total trade ith other trade partners as it is only . percent of EU’s total global trade. On the other hand, EU has recorded significant gains in the security and stability of the region, pressuring the Western Balkans countries into agreements using the carrot of EU accession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vast majority of explanations of capitalist and socialist systems are based on their contradictory features. However, on a general historical and theoretical level, there are some similarities between both families of a system obtained throughout the process of their co-evolution. Therefore, as a result of these similarities, even today, most confuse their economic concepts. Such confusion rightly stimulates our research interest to understand some basic categories within the political culture of citizens in North Macedonia, i.e., understanding its homogenization level (whether it is low or high), which is a necessary precondition for the basic consensus in society. The research, based on the distribution of social wealth and product, and private property and market ownership, through the survey, will measure the attitude of citizens towards the old and new social order, respectively, towards socialism and capitalism. To accomplish this survey by not asking correspondents direct questions, through some indicative questions, we will focus on the constituent features of these two systems, such as justice, humanity, the concentration of capital, and property distribution. These are also elements of a fundamental difference between socialism and capitalism, both in theory and social practice. The results will prove the hypothesis that in the Republic of North Macedonia, we can not have a clear picture of the dominant system, as we have a combined mosaic that to some extent is in favor of the new capitalist system, but without many economic prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper will address the current situation in the country, analyzing the socio-political situation of recent years, the challenges that the state institutions are facing during the Euro-Atlantic integration process and in particular the problems after the visa liberalization process for citizens of North Macedonia. As a result, we will present a causal scheme of society development in North Macedonia, as a state in which political crisis is present for a long time, a phenomenon that significantly undermines the functioning of the state institutions and affects the stability, peace and security in the country and the region. Moreover, in this research we will describe the current crisis in Middle East states, which was one of the main generators for the regional security instability of the Balkans and Europe. On the other hand, the relations of North Macedonia with its neighbors, in particular with Greece and Serbia, during the crisis with refugees, and the reasons for the failure of state institutions for quality management of this ongoing crisis will be analyzed. An important place in this paper will also take the role and contribution of NGOs in overcoming the grave humanitarian situation faced by state institutions and refugees from regions involved in war. To achieve the desired results in this paper we will use different scientific methods, such as analysis and processing of different texts, as well as analytical, statistical and comparative methods. We will also use secondary techniques such as questionnaires, conducted with citizens from the Polog region, which will be processed and will be part of this scientific research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The engagement of young people in politics and their involvement in policy-making is of particular importance and has always been one of the most important conditions for achieving participatory democracy, as well as the uninterrupted development of society in general. This is especially true for countries in transition, such as the countries of the Western Balkans, where a new yet dysfunctional democratic system has been installed, where even today there are different ideologies and not well defined. Moreover, stagnation in terms of social and economic development, environmental development and the creation of favorable conditions for employment and advancement of young people have caused these countries to face a lack of political interest in young people, loss of interest in staying there, and their escape outside, a phenomenon known as brain drain. On the other hand, the development of information technology in recent years creates new opportunities for the engagement of young people and their organization through various social networks. Recently, political parties have also noticed the potential of these networks, which combined with the skills and knowledge of young people give the right advantage in the conditions of an electoral race. However, all this takes place at a social cost which sometimes poses a risk in terms of security, respect for the law and deviance among young people, accompanied by hate speech and inadequate institutional and legal preparation by the state. For this reason, these points will also be the focus of this paper, through which we will try to shed some light on this not very researched field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relations between Macedonia and Greece have been very tense over the name dispute during the last 30 years. This political issue kept Macedonia outside the NATO alliance since 2008, when it first attempted to join, and was refused by Greece because of the name issue. The main problem consisted on the fact that Greece did not recognize Macedonia with its formal name instead, and that it should be called Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). In this paper we will be analyzing the role of political leaders from both countries (Greece and Macedonia) during the Prespa Meetings and their efforts and obstacles in reaching the Agreement, which set a new page of diplomacy between Greece and Macedonia.By using different scientific methodologies such as literature review, analyses of the official text and document, as well as analyses of the media from the both countries, we are going to try to find the causes and consequences of these policies from both sides, and the impact that the international community had on the resolving the crisis. In order to reach the whole picture on the situation, we will analyze the result of the referendum regarding the name issue, the boycott of the referendum by the opposition VMRO-DPMNE, the use of nationalism for political gains and the voting on the name change on the parliament, as well as the role the Albanian community on the final outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethics in public service deals with the practical application of moral standards in governance. Ethics is primarily related to how an individual thinks should behave; it deals with values and their implementation in a given context. It is known that the civil society is directly related to the service provided by the public administration and as a consequence it directs its entire activity to meet the needs and interests of the public, exercising its functions, based on sound ethical and respectful law. The public administration performance study becomes important as this public sector represents the state and the way of governance, and that public services are very important to the beneficiaries, since they are ultimately vital and irreplaceable. There is always a direct link between ethics as discipline and public administration, which springs from the emergence of administrative functions in the civilized world. In this context we are going to go through procedures and standards that regulate the Ethics and ethical behavior in Kosovo Public Administration. In order to achieve the desired results and findings needed for this paper, we are going to use different research methodologies, such as text analyses and review of different documents that regulate this matter. Also we are going to use a questionnaire that will help us to obtain the necessary findings in order to complete this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political and social changes in the Western Balkans region resulted in the creation of new states, which for a long time have been in a transition period, mainly with the aim to approach towards the values that would enable accession to the European Union and the creation of modern and economically strong society. However, this transition did not prove to be very positive, mainly because the actors who led this process were not prepared and capable of carrying this process, and consequently created weak state institutions, an underdeveloped economy with a nonprofessional and politically dependent public administration, and all of this led to a huge disappointment of the population towards the state institutions which were proclaimed to be democratic. On the other hand, these democratic processes during the transition period require a relevant scientificresearch approach in order to address these phenomena in time and to give concrete answers to questions that are important in terms of political and social developments in these countries. Therefore, during our paper we will mainly be based on the theory of Fukuyama on building state institutions in states in transition. This research paper presents an overview of political developments and social changes in Kosovo, focusing on the building of state institutions by local actors, the accompanying issues of this process and the role of the international community, which supported and facilitated the institutional development, mainly through a continuous direct and indirect support of the civil sector, which plays the role of monitor and corrector of the state institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration has been one of the most disturbing concerns of the international community during the last several years. It has sparked debates and disagreements among countries and different associations. The media and social network coverage was very intense and raised many moral, ethical, socio-economic and other dilemmas. The migratory movements always have attracted the attention of the scientific thought, mainly because of the need for proper identification of the causes and on-time intervention for minimizing the negative socio-politic effects that these movements cause to the affected countries and the entire region. The Arab Spring created a chain reaction in several countries which led to a great flow of migrants and refugees from the Middle East, with majority of them coming from the war torn Syria. Macedonia was one of the countries that confronted the circumstances, since it was standing in the in the path towards the Western European countries. The managing of the situation was poor and failed to prevent the escalation of the problem, mainly because of the lack of regional and international coordination and cooperation. For obtaining the desired results, we will conduct an cause-effect analysis of the migration problem, the managing of the situation from the Macedonian government, and an interview with people from the organizations involved in facilitating the crisis. Additionally, we are going to analyze the effect of the name issue between Macedonia and Greece and the outcome of this bilateral issue upon the migrants and the peace and the stability on the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Western Balkans has always been in the attention of the world politics due to its geostrategic position, multiethnic and multi-religious composition, and because of the clashes between east and west which left serious consequences. Often these historical contexts have led to the emergence of political crisis with consequences in inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations, which have endangered the existence of the states and the cohesion between nations. In this scientific paper we will treat the status of Albanians in the western Balkans before and after the fall of communism, taking into account their impact on the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the creation of new states in the Western Balkans, especially after the independence ofMacedonia and the Europe's newest country, independent Kosovo. Moreover, we will emphasize the role of Albanians in maintaining the stability of the western Balkans, given the recent events on global security, without neglecting the role of Albanian political leaders in certain periods. In order to achieve the desired results in this scientific research, we will use various scientific methods such as comparative method, text and document analysis, as well as content and historic analysis. Through these methods we will try to give a special approach to the role of Albanians in theWestern Balkans during these turmoils and the challenges that await themin the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In places where social multiethnicity and multiculturalism is detected, the interethnic and interreligious dialogue is considered to be the imperative of time which should be initiated by the government itself. But in recent years, the Republic of Macedonia as a multiethnic and multireligious state goes in the direction of ruin the interethnic and interreligious harmony, thereby destroying the basic rules of the secular state. The purpose of this scientific study is to make a specialized overview regarding the recent function of secularism in the Republic of Macedonia. The main hypothesis of this study is theconfirmation that in the Republic of Macedonia there is an attempt to ruin secularism by the actual government. This will be proven by mentioning several cases and challenges that occurred in our country lately as well as we will recommend way of overcoming the same. Different methods were used in this study, starting with the descriptive method by consultingrelevant bibliography and analyzing relevant reports from the country and the international factor, the causal method, the content analysis, whereas a questionnaire was used as a technique which was filled by people living in the main cities of the Republic of Macedonia between January and March 2015, and an interview was held as well. The results of this study prove that in recent years the borders of secularism were infringed and that the political parties through the impact of government indirectly helped one particular religious community, so that there is ethnical and religious conflict and discrimination which has had a great impact not only on the country but this is reflected in the region as well, in the development of reports with the neighboring countries of the Republic of Macedonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper consist on scientific analysis of political developments in Kosovo after the 1999 armed conflict, mainly focusing on policy-making processes towards peace-building, developing the new democracy and building functional and transparent state institutions. Elaborated materials in this paper will include official documents published by state institutions of Kosovo and the international community engaged in the country. Also, will be used materials from various relevant institutions by country and region, about the Kosovo case. The methodology applied in this scientific paper is based on content analysis of texts and different publications, also by using descriptive, historical and causal method that will enable a real and comprehensive view of events from the beginning of peace-building and the journey toward state-building. The expected results from this paper are aimed to show the many challenges and problems that the country had to go through in building democratic institutions that will serve all its citizens. The conclusions and recommendations of this study will serve as a model for overcoming the political crisis, establishing the rule of the state of law and setting the foundation for a functional democratic state. Moreover, this study can be used as guidance for other multi-ethnic states in the region, which face similar problems as a result of the delayed transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at dealing with several issues regarding the role of the President in Macedonia, having in mind first of all the fact that it is a parliamentary country where the President does not have a full executive role. Therefore, we should focus on his role in balancing powers in a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multi-religious state, as is Macedonia. This includes the process of electing the president, the constitutional order and the decision-making role of the president in this type of government. We will also deal with the president's contribution in establishing sustainable relations among political factors both at a national and international level, especially when it comes to the political crisis between the position and opposition, also emphasized in the last EU Commission report of 2013, as well as the everlasting problem with its southern neighbor, Greece, with regard to the name dispute. The political dialogue and promotion of human rights and freedoms are some of the main issues the president should be concerned with, especially as regards the rights and freedoms of the Albanians in Macedonia who comprise the second largest ethnic community in the country, in order to have a functional democratic state. This raises the issue of the legitimacy of the president as a president of all the citizens in Macedonia, which was further complicated by the latest changes in the legislation. The methodology applied in this paper includes content analysis, historical analysis, statistical analysis, comparative approach as well as surveys with students at SEE University and analysis of interviews given by experts in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we are going to describe the reasons and consequences of the social transformation under the impact of the political and economical changes in south-eastern Europe after the 90's, with emphasis on Macedonia. A sociological analysis of the Macedonian society as a whole will be performed The process of development of the multiethnic state and the contemporary civil society, the political culture of the citizens and the choices they have to make, the establishment of a civil society based on multiethnic values and common respect, will be our main focus in this paper. Also, we will present the latest political crisis and the lack of political dialog between ethnic Albanians and Macedonians. A special analysis will be made on the latest crisis between Macedonian government and opposition parties, which are threatening the euro-integration processes. This also deepens the economic crisis and endangers the weak interethnic relations in the country. A solution to these and many other problems is offered at the end of the paper. The methodology that will be used in this paper carries comparative and historical methods, statistical and content analysis, which enables the paper to present a realistic picture, based on empirical data and derived evidence from the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through this paper we will analyze the current situation of non-formal education in Republic of Macedonia and provides a comparative overview of the positive experiences of the Kingdom of Sweden, where informal education has a long tradition. The performed research concluded that non-formal education contributes to the determination and identification of the needs of those skills or competencies that are important to empower young people to face the challenges of the new dynamic demands of the labor market. It also concluded that classical formal education system is not sufficient and cannot meet the new trend of rapid socio-economic and technological change in modern society. As a case study is analyzed cooperation between SEEU Tetovo and NGO “Triagolnik” Skopje, by applying the new methodology in the work of certificate programs, bachelor and master program The most important segment of this analysis is the impact of this type of education in mitigating the problem of unemployment in the so-called countries in transition, which requires the change of existing education policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The political culture, according to scholar Kavanagh is part of the overall societal culture, and represents a set of basic values, emotions, knowledge, attitudes and convictions, within which the political system operates, shaping and feeding political processes. Culture came as a sequence to efforts to factor the spiritual world of people in explicating policy. Political culture brings to surface some kind of independence of culture from economic factors, and the role of culture in political order and economic development. This paper provides the theoretical aspects of political culture and political systems, within which its reflection is analysed on several aspects of interethnic relations in a democracy. Also, it accentuates the preferred paths of Western Balkan countries, including Macedonia, towards integration with the European Union, which is spiked with many challenges. In the political culture of multi-ethnic societies, ethnic divisions may have an influence. The ethnic principles are still present in the political arena of Macedonia, where although there is some "interethnic reconciliation", the failure in implementing the Ohrid Framework Agreement, signed in 2001, between Albanians and Macedonians, there are often political contractions, affecting national interests, which is in contradiction to all values of the European Union, mainly with human rights, but also ethnic rights. The object of the analysis of this paper is specifically related to: - extended transition of Macedonia, - political consensus, - role of political parties, and - interethnic relations after the Ohrid Framework Agreement. Political culture in South-Eastern European countries has been analysed in different views, especially in the reform process, where it has an important role. Conclusions of this paper are that Macedonia must fulfil the conditions set forth, both political and institutional, based on the political culture for EU integration, since political culture, according to scholar L. Pye represents a "set of basic values, emotions and knowledge shaping and feeding political processes". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research paper will be given empirical analysis about political and legal changes after the fall of communism in the Western Balkans with a separate emphasis on the process of disintegration of former Yugoslavia and the creation of an independent state of Macedonia. Important place in this paper occupy the challenges facing society in the period of prolonged transition in Macedonia, focusing on the policy process in conformity with multiethnic society model of Arend Lijphart models of democracy. This scientific research will reflect the advancement analysis about events and changes in socio-legal and economic future of the societies that abandoned communism. Also in this paper the political culture is addressed which was largely conditioned by the legacy of authoritarian political culture and the creation of a democratic political culture, emphasizing its role in the creation of new actors in the policymaking process. The process of transformation of society is a long process of time followed by many surprises and disappointment, fraud, abuse and other sociopathological phenomena, thus worsening the lives of most people. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the removal of the " Iron Curtain " in post-communist countries was celebrated as a victory of democracy, but this festive euphoria did not last long because soon people were faced with the harsh reality of transition. Unresolved issues vital to multiethnic society has its results, the conflict in 2001 in Macedonia. Lack of political dialogue continues to be the generators of the crisis and an obstacle to the realization of Euro-integration processes. This is best illustrated in R. Dahl words that the transformation of political institutions had only a few years and the transformation of political culture needs decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]