Dr Adem Kassie Abebe is Senior Adviser on International IDEA’s Constitutional Governance and Rule of Law Programme where he supports constitutional and democratic resilience and consolidation, as well as transitions from conflict/authoritarianism to peace/democracy. Adem advises national and regional decision makers and civil society organizations, convenes high-level dialogues, and develops cutting edge knowledge resources on constitutional governance and rule of law.

As a member of advisory boards, Adem shapes the direction and refinement of the strategic objectives of various organisations. In this capacity, he is Vice President and serves on the Executive Committee of the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers; Executive Committee of the International Association of Constitutional Law; Advisory Board of the (Bonavero) Institute of Human Rights, Oxford University; on the Governance Board of Article 19 (Eastern Africa); and Advisory Board of the International Journal of Constitutional Law; Advisory Board of Constitutional Studies.

He has published op-eds in prominent international and national media outlets, as well as books, book chapters and articles in academic journals on comparative constitutional studies and practice. He has delivered lectures in universities across the world, and has been featured and/or cited in prominent outlets (Foreign Policy, The Conversation, Al Jazeera, The Guardian and The Economist). He has also appeared as commentator on major global radio and television broadcasters (including the BBC, Al Jazeera, France24). He serves as Extraordinary Lecturer at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa, and has been invited as amicus curiae in prominent court cases in the Supreme Court of Kenya, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Ethiopian Constitutional Council of Inquiry.

He was a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, and was Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge (UK), Centre of Governance and Human Rights (2011) and at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (2012). He has been recognized since 2015 as a Fellow of the Centre for Jurisprudence and Constitutional Studies at Kabarak University in Kenya.

Op-Eds published: 

Opinions expressed in all these commentaries are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the institutional position of International IDEA, its Board of Advisers or its Council of Member States.

• The African Union has a poor record of protecting democracy. 2024 was no different’, The Conversation, 12 December 2024;
• Winning and losing well in divided African democracies, Foreign Policy, 1 November 2024;
• Ethiopia’s Amhara conflict coup spark civil war, Foreign Policy, 6 March 2024,
• With the guns silenced, Ethiopia and Tigray must now secure the peace, World Politics Review, 6 December 2022 (with Kassahun Molla);
• Africa’s next wannabe third-term presidents must be stopped, Al Jazeera, 21 October 2022;
• AU has the responsibility to help protect Tunisia’s democracy, Al Jazeera, 30 July 2022;
• Ethiopia may just have a chance for peace, World Politics Review, 21 June 2022;
• Seizing Ethiopia’s fragile momentum for peace, Al Jazeera, 12 April 2022;
• Africa is beset with coups and conflicts: how the trend can be reversed, The Conversation, 16 February 2022
• A Blueprint for Peace in Ethiopia, Foreign Policy, 12 November 2021
• Denounce Guinea’s Coup—and Incumbent Leaders’ Abuses of Power, Foreign Policy, 20 September 2021
• Ethiopia's encumbered elections, Foreign Policy, 14 June 2021
• Ethiopia Needs a Constitutional Convention, Foreign Policy, 1 April 2021
• The African Union’s Hypocrisy Undermines Its Credibility, Foreign Policy, 27 August 2020
• Africa's Attempts to Abandon Practice of Presidents for Life Suffer Another Setback, The Conversation,16 August 2020
• Ivorian president might be sorely tempted to seek a third term. Why he mustn’t, The Conversation, 21 July 2020
• Under the shadows of COVID-19, a potential African spring of alternation of power, Africa Network for Constitutional Lawyers, 8 July 2020
• Malawi’s victory for democracy: After the euphoria, long, hard work, The Conversation, 29 June 2020
• Beating around the bush on the constitutional conundrum, Ethiopia Insight, 14 May 2020
• The threat of intraethnic strife in Ethiopia, Al Jazeera, 4 November 2019
• What Ethiopians can learn from Sidama's thorny statehood journey , Al Jazeera, 18 September 2019
• What Ethiopia needs is an independent prosecution , Al Jazeera, 22 July 2019
• It's time for the African Union to put a stop to 'third-termism' , Al Jazeera,  9 July 2019
• Sudan: a chance for the AU to refine support for countries in crisis , The Conversation, (republished) 10 June 2019
• Popular protests pose a conundrum for the AU’s opposition to coups , The Conversation, (republished) 8 May 2019
• Establishing confidence in the judiciary: Why Meaza Ashenafi should lead a process of judicial vetting , Addis Standard, 7 November 2018