Sunday, March 11, 2018

The first national course of the Albanian School of Political Studies took place in Pogradec from 9 to 11 March 2018.  The guest lecturers shared with the participants the best of national and international practice.

Mr. Jim Arkedis, who has over 15 years of experience in American political campaigns, addressed the topics of “Political communication and campaigning”. A significant part of this presentation was devoted to discussing the last presidential election and how President Donald Trump managed to win the election. Two other thematic as "Essential of Public Speaking" and " Public Debating Techniques" were introduced to the training, offering to the participants the opportunity to get acquainted with and practice the most contemporary techniques in this field.

The second module of the course was focused on the Electoral Systems. "The History of Albanian Electoral Systems" was presented by Mr. Kastriot Islami, as one of the most experienced electoral reform experts. Its presentation was further extended by the co-chair of the parliamentary commission for electoral reform, Mr. Oerd Bylykbashi. By discussing on problems encountered in different election systems and those of the last elections of 2017 were highly appreciated by the participants on better understand the current polical discourse on electoral reform. Participants also had the opportunity to discuss with Mr. Bylykbashi and share their thoughts on another important issue such as decriminalization.