The May electoral battle: how has the election campaign strategy evolved to shape today's political landscape?

The electoral campaign seems to be the most mentioned phrase in the Albanian media in the last month. With an enviable attention, as rarely before it has also influenced the 'humor' of the citizen. By its very definition, the electoral campaign is a series of planned activities, with the sole purpose of winning the elections and taking or (keeping) power of that political force that manages to be the winner in the final result. Although officially allowed only 30 days before the elections, the campaign always starts earlier. According to calculations, it extends over a longer period of time, even going up to one or two years. Across the globe, it is known as a very normal activity, where political forces use various ways to influence the people and to align them with their side.

The same phenomenon is happening in our country. With almost two weeks left until election day, the relevant mechanisms are ready for the final sprint.

Electoral campaigns, despite having the same agenda for the political forces of each country, certainly carry different burdens both in infrastructure and in their content. It is worth noting that electoral campaigns take the form of the place where they take place. If in Europe they take place in silence, in peace and without any pomp, in Albania, already "Americanized" by the Trumpist model, noise and chaos have eventually taken over the scene.

And this is not just about character or tradition, but also how our politics resembles the American model; with two central figures in the background and the need for each to have the main role, any possible verbal conflict and the greatness of the cult of the individual. Such a situation is unthinkable in the West. Voters there, not only would not understand it but might look at it with a funny and even contemptuous eye.

This time the campaign has taken on the most current form of the times we are living in. As in every field, technology has also hijacked politics. At a time when virtual meetings have surpassed physical ones, people themselves prefer to see political spectacles through these platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok or Facebook, which seem to be playing the role of a rather influential instrument quite well, bringing deviation from the essence (message) but on the other hand gaining wider attention to image, blunders and humor.

Is this what the citizen of the future wants? Maintaining focus and delving into the issue is always a challenge, especially for the younger generation, who suffer from these shortcomings. Scrolling undoubtedly simplifies the absorption of the image, colors, scene and the very picture of political events where beyond the argument, idea and electoral promise, everything young people see or what they simply want to see is a game.

Better than anyone, the main actors in political battles have understood this, among them, who shone a little earlier, President Trump, who last year, with his campaign, showed that being in the spotlight everywhere and for everything is what is needed.

And if for 30 years the model for campaigns has been Europe itself, it is worth noting that the elections of May 2025 seem more American than ever.

Today, although with an added factor such as technology, we should not forget that electoral campaigns have existed even earlier. In ancient Athens, their model seems not too far from the modern era. As historians describe, the essence has not moved much from its initial axis. Philosophers such as Pericles or Alcibiades continue to be icons in today's reality. The first with inspiring speeches, defending democracy and evoking a high emotion of patriotism, Pericles, remained stoic to his royal image in public, far from scandals or extravagant fashion.

The second, Alcibiades, a politician with the model of a "rock star", between his charm, drama and style of dressing seemed to attract the most attention. He even went so far as to flirt with the voter, creating a division among the people, into those who love him and those who hate him.

Both, although somewhat different, were capable of attracting the eyes, ears, and hearts of people, what politics truly requires. And together with it, they inspired humanity to believe in dreams, forming a symbiosis that seems to be the key to a sure victory.

If we were to update this model to the current situation, we would realize that man has not changed much. Protagonists and non-protagonists have been behaving the same way for centuries, but this time with a new epochal development, what we might otherwise call a "Technological Athens".