JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.393, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 2, Issue 1, February 2014 374 www.jiarm.com DEPOLITICIZATION" OF POLITICS AS A RESULT OF A CONFLICTING DISCOURSE ROLAND LAMI, PH.D* BLENDI LAMI** *European University of Tirana, Tirana, Albania **Ph.D candidate, Academy of Defence, “Spiro Moisiu” Tiranë, Shqipëri, Albania ABSTRACT In general, ideological labelling "left or right" of the electorate in Albania is often viewed symbolically connected to a party or a certain leader, rather than the doctrinal content of specific policies followed by a party. Several researchers, including Zechmeister (2001), Mair (1990), Lippman and Dalton (1993), referring to countries with brief history of political plurality, reach the conclusion that the ideology in these countries is often determined by the symbolic use of the terms "left" and "right" by the political actors (i.e. representatives of political parties) as well as by the reproduction of this symbolic in a higher degree by means of the media than by means of the doctrinal content of the political programs. Regarding the political behaviour in Albania, it is noticed that supporters of the two main parties, the DP and SP, consider themselves "left" or "right" simply because they identify themselves with the logo or the history of the party they adhere to, and do not analyse whether the programs or policies implemented by either party are left or right concerning their content from the doctrinal standpoint. In such a political reality, the role of the leader becomes crucial. The electorate is reduced to a mere audience, while politics is "depoliticised", becoming an arena of "war" between actors in individual levels. So, it is the form that overlaps the content and not the opposite. KEYWORDS: Conflict, Discourse, Hegemony, Leadership, Doctrine, Personalization INTRODUCTION It is a well-known fact that politics inseparable in terms of competition. In other words, “competition is like the root of the term politics”, when we designate the art of governance or when we refer to strategy and tactics to gain and keep power. Democracy means always two parties, two actors: the majority that intends to hold the power and the opposition that is the opponent and competes to take the power. Consequently, politics is not just an art or practice of governance, but also a competition (Meny, Y. & Surel, Y. 2002).