Adem Kassie Abebe (LL.D) is Senior Advisor in Constitution and Peace Building at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). He supports political dialogue and settlement processes in transitions to peace and democracy, particularly in politically complex and fragile contexts. Adem works in policy advocacy on constitutional democracy; convenes platforms for dialogue; advises and provides technical assistance to high level decision makers at national and international levels; and advises and empowers civil society stakeholders across the world. Adem’s current intellectual interests lie in ways of addressing winner-takes-all politics at local, regional, and national levels, especially in divided societies; constitutional innovations, especially in the “global south”; design and operation of constitutions in transitional contexts; and the interface between constitutions and the future generation.
In addition to his practical and policy engagements, Adem has edited books and published articles and book chapters in prominent academic journals on comparative constitutional law and practice. He delivers lectures in universities across the world, and is a frequent contributor to debates on topical political and constitutional issues through op-eds in prominent international, African, and Ethiopian outlets (such as The Conversation and Foreign Policy), has regularly appeared as commentator on major global radio and television broadcasters (including the BBC, Al Jazeera, France24). Adem serves as Vice President of the African Network of Constitutional Law, in the Executive Committee of the International Association of Constitutional Law, in the Advisory Board of the International Journal of Constitutional Law, and as Extraordinary Lecturer at the University of Pretoria. He has been invited as a neutral expert (amicus curiae) in prominent court cases, including by the Kenyan Supreme Court and the Ethiopian Council of Constitutional Inquiry.