60 rT ansitional Justice and Democratic Consolidation in post-communist aE stern uE rope: Romania and Albania. Last but not least, we have the concept of reparative justice. This concept centers on the recognition that human relationships have greatly suffered as a result of a type of regime or a particular conflict and these ties need to be repaired (Muddell & Hawkins 2018). This is particularly relevant in countries that have suffered in the immediate past from genocide, war crimes and other mass atrocities and need to undergo a process of catharsis. Thus, repair is typically focused on trying to return the victim to their condition prior to suffering the violation to the extent possible. This cannot possibly be done without enforcing the rule of law and strong institutions that will be able to address the past in an objective way. On the other hand, as a caveat we must stress that reparations programs do not typically build by themselves either the rule of law or institutions. Functioning institutions, greater accountability and the rule of law are highly conditional on the speed and quality of the democratization process. A fast and unequivocal transition from authoritarian rule and planned economy toward liberal democracy and free market economy generates a priori the need for stronger constitutionality and rule of law; otherwise the democratic reforms will fail to take off. Thus, transitional justice is important to understand, measure and evaluate how it impacts democracy and democratization processes. Lately, as the study of transitional justice has shifted toward more quantitative methods as a way to evaluate the success of justice mechanisms (Stewart & Wiebelhaus-Brahm 2017), the impact on democracy has become ever clearer (Thoms, Ron & Paris 2010). Indeed, for many of these studies, the attainment of a liberal democratic regime that respects civil and political rights is the main indicator of success. Early and swift forms of addressing the past are relevant for democratic consolidation because, without a general catharsis and reflections on dictatorships and its crimes against individual freedoms and human dignity, society cannot function normally and progress will be hard to achieve. A scholar captured the importance of particular transitional justice mechanisms, when he noted that “noncriminal sanctions, such as purges, lustration, and public access to security files, are critical for the democratic reform element…” Kritz (1999, 19-20). These findings seem confirmed empirically time and again (Kritz 1995; Diamond 1999). It is, therefore, the contention of this paper that, without quick and successful implementation of transitional justice that addresses the dictatorial past, transition will be slow or suffer setbacks and democratic consolidation cannot be achieved. In addition, a lack of democratic political culture will be reflected in weak institutions, poor checks and balances, the rise of potential authoritarism, and a stalled reform agenda. Without a social pact that takes into account the entire legacy of the past, society simply cannot move ahead. Without accountability, there cannot be forgiveness. The ghosts of the past will continue to torment the formerly prosecuted. This is why considerate is important to take into account transitional justice measures as important variables in studying the shape of democracy in postauthoritarian societies. CASE-SELECTION Transitional Justice and Democratic Consolidation in post-Communist Eastern Europe Outside Stalinist Soviet Union, totalitarian Albania and the totalitarian-sultanistic regime of Ceausescu’s Romania were the most brutal (Stepan & Linz 1996). However, recently 70 percent of present-day Russians have expressed support for Stalin’s regime and feel nostalgic (Arkhipov 2019), while Romania and Albania are the two countries with the highest negative views toward