The keynote speaker was Professor Mark J. Rozell - founder and dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University in Virginia, author of 13 books and editor of other books 20 referring to topics relating to US government and politics. He is a visiting lecturer at universities in the United States and around the world and a contributing author to the Washington Post newspaper. The meeting brought together representatives from academia, business, NGOs and members of the MISO community.

Professor Rozell began his presentation by discussing the structure of the electoral system in the United States, focusing on the presidential selection process and its impact on public involvement. In his talk, he emphasized the importance of decentralization and of smaller states in the context of the electoral system.

The electoral system was designed by the 18th century U.S. Constitution, which created such a unique solution as the electoral college system that elects the U.S. President, which is why it seems so complicated even for Americans, and it is really difficult to compare the concept of federalism that prevails in the U.S. to the system operating in Western democratic countries, the speaker said.

Later at the meeting, participants in the debate were able to learn about issues relating to the electoral process in the US, the functioning of political parties and the social and demographic changes that influence the American politics.

Professor Rozell and other participants emphasized the need for active public involvement and the constant search for new solutions to strengthen democracy and civic participation. The real foundation of democratic societies, he said, is that citizens are active in politics, and this regular involvement is even more important than the mere act of voting on an election day, because it allows them to influence the process of governance.

The meeting ended with a discussion, during which the following topics were discussed:

>The role of the media in the upcoming elections.

>Proposals for concrete measures to improve involvement in the electoral process.

>Evaluation of the real power of NGOs in the United States.

The question-and-answer session allowed participants to better understand the political system, its structure as well as the predictions for the outcome of the upcoming US presidential elections.

The event was held as part of the "Polish-U.S. Civil Society Roundtables" project, implemented by the International Institute of Civil Society and the U.S. Embassy in Poland. These are periodic meetings with the participation of American experts specializing  the development of civil society in selected thematic areas. The aim of the project is to exchange Polish and American experiences in the format of roundtables on raising civic competence and the development of civil society, with a particular focus on human rights, disinformation, mass-media freedom, rule of law, as well as diversity and tolerance - depending on the topic of a given meeting.