<p>This article examines the evolution, functions, and political meanings of boycott in Albania from the early 1990s to the present, arguing that boycott has become a persistent repertoire of contention shaping the country’s democratic development. While boycott is widely discussed in comparative politics as a tactical expression of political dissatisfaction, the Albanian case reveals a broader and more complex phenomenon. Drawing on a systematic review of public episodes—including students’ mobilizations, electoral boycotts, parliamentary withdrawals, professional or sector-specific refusals—this study shows that boycott in Albania has gradually shifted from a moral and symbolic dissent to a routinized and institutionalized practice employed by multiple actors across the political system. Using a qualitative interpretive methodology and process tracing across six emblematic cases, boycotts are examined through some interrelated dimensions: framing and objectives, initiation, types of actors involved, institutionalization, outcomes and legacy, coalition and mobilization. The article contributes to the literature in two ways: first, by offering the most comprehensive empirical mapping of boycott episodes in post-communist Albania; second, by conceptualizing boycott not merely as withdrawal but as a political language through which actors negotiate legitimacy, accountability, and inclusion. The findings highlight the need to reconsider boycott as a feature of Albania’s political trajectory.</p>