Home Research CV # <img src="ziaja_foto.jpg" border=0 width=200 align=right> <img src="blank.png" border=0 width=20 align=right> I am a political scientist at [GESIS -- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences](https://www.gesis.org/institut/mitarbeiterverzeichnis/person/Sebastian.Ziaja) in Cologne, where I lead the team Survey Data Augmentation. Before joining GESIS, I was senior researcher at the [German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)](https://www.die-gdi.de/sebastian-ziaja/), interim professor for political science at the [University of Konstanz](https://www.polver.uni-konstanz.de/cnc/people/former-members/) (W3-Vertretungsprofessur) and postdoctoral researcher at the Research Center for Distributional Conflict and Globalization at [Heidelberg University](https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/fakultaeten/wiso/exzellenzinitiative/teilnehmer_en.html). In 2014, I obtained my PhD with a thesis titled *A nudge too far? The effects of democracy aid on democratization and political instability* from the Department of Government at the [University of Essex](http://www.essex.ac.uk/government/), supervised by [Kristian Skrede Gleditsch](http://ksgleditsch.com/) and [Jörg Faust](http://www.deval.org/en/prof-dr-joerg-faust.html). In my current research, I conduct real-world experiments on how to improve democratic resilience and citizen-state relations. I have examined a [citizen council](https://www.gesis.org/en/research/projects-and-exchange/external-funding-projects/details/project/251/a-next-generation-randomised-citizen-council-for-encouraging-political-participation-at-the-local-level) in Germany and digital outreach by the [Botswana Unified Revenue Service](https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12893). I also work on determinants of [regime change](https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/706111) and on measuring [state fragility](https://www.statefragility.info/), developing methods to combine different types of data at various levels of spatial and temporal aggregation. My overall goal is to contribute to finding tools that help safeguard democracy. My research has appeared in *The Journal of Politics*, *Governance*, *Studies in Comparative International Development*, *Third World Quarterly*, and other international, peer-reviewed journals. Together with Javier Fabra Mata, I co-authored the [*Users' guide on measuring fragility*](https://www.idos-research.de/uploads/media/usersguide_measure_fragility_ogc09_0.pdf), published by the Oslo Governance Centre of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). I led the data analysis for the Hertie School of Governance's *Governance Report 2018*. For the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, I developed and maintain a governance index. See my [CV](ziaja_cv.pdf) for further details. #### Contact Dr. Sebastian Ziaja GESIS -- Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences Unter Sachsenhausen 6-8 50667 Cologne Germany Phone: +49 221 47694-462 Email: sebastian<span id="spammmmer">RemoveMeX</span>.ziaja@ges<span id="spammmmer">XYHideMe</span>is.org [www.gesis.org](https://www.gesis.org) *** Written in markdown, compiled with strapdown; last updated August 2025.