Damir Kapidžić

Damir Kapidžić is a Professor of Comparative Politics and Director of the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Sarajevo. Previously he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. His research looks at how democratic innovations and authoritarian politics work in institutions after ethnic conflict and power-sharing. He focuses on processes in Southeast European countries with comparative perspectives from Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the Middle East. Most of his research uses mixed methods, which he also incorporates into his teaching. He is a consultant on deliberative democracy for the Council of Europe, the United Nations Office for Project Services, and the European Union Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has co-designed five local and national and citizens’ assemblies, and advised several more in Southeast Europe, all in post-conflict contexts with substantial elements of demographic diversity. With the Council of Europe, he has co-produced the Guide for local authorities on how to organize a deliberative process at the local level. He is a member of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group, an EU Horizon principal investigator for projects at the University of Sarajevo, and editor of the book Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe (2022).