SUBDEMO – Subnational Democratic Resilience in Post-Conflict Societies

Relevant call: HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-07 "Supporting post-conflict democracy and reconstruction"

Our interest: We are looking for partners (universities, research institutes or think tanks) who have expertise in subnational democracy/politics in any of the following cases: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Iraq and Peru.

Consortium structure: We envisage the consortium to be composed of 13 partners with Charles University (Coordinator) + 5 universities + 2 think tanks/research centers + 5 NGOs in the five countries mentioned above

Our expertise: Charles University is the highest ranking university across Widening countries; research tradition in studying global regions since 19th century and an extensive network of local contacts across regions.

Relevant ongoing project: ERA-AREAS 2025–2030 (ERA Chairs, EU)

About the project: The SUBDEMO project aims to investigate why democratic resilience varies sharply across subnational regions during the reconstruction phases following armed conflict. The project explains why some localities manage to consolidate inclusive, democratic governance and resist national concentration and personalization of executive power, while others relapse into violence, exclusion and repression. Despite the increasing acknowledgment of the relevance and significance of the subnational level for both peacebuilding and democratic quality, two gaps limit our understanding, and thus, our ability to improve subnational democratic resilience. First, we lack a unified theory of the origins of democratic resilience in post-conflict societies. To bridge this gap, the SUBDEMO project will develop an interdisciplinary theory by using insights from political science, psychology, international relations, geography and history to examine and explain subnational democratic resilience. Second, the literature lacks a systematic empirical examination of the origins of subnational democratic resilience in post-conflict societies. In the SUBDEMO project, we will develop a subnational democratic resilience index in countries spanning the five world regions: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Iraq and Peru. To offer a comprehensive empirical examination of subnational democratic resilience, the project will employ a wide variety of methods including statistical analysis, field experiments, elite interviews, surveys and case studies. The project will employ a participatory, practice-based research design involving local civil society organizations, community groups, and specialized support providers working with conflict-affected populations, including veterans, women peacebuilders, and displaced persons, ensuring co-production of knowledge on democratic reconstruction and inclusion.