Municipal Councillors in the Post-Conflict Societies

As part of the international research project Return of the Councillors, data collection was conducted between 2023 and 2024 across 28 European countries. The research focused on the attitudes of municipal councillors, and for the first time included post-conflict countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The aim of the project is to analyse differences between the attitudes of councillors from post-conflict countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Serbia) and those of municipal councillors from other countries that have not experienced armed conflict since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. The analysis will focus on at least three main variables: the importance of protecting traditional values at the local level; the importance of representing religious groups or churches; and the importance of representing ethnic and/or cultural minorities. The methodology employed combines quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative aspect will use data collected via an online standardised questionnaire distributed to councillors across Europe during 2023–2024. This data will be analysed specifically for all the examined post-conflict countries. The qualitative analysis will complement these results, providing deeper interpretation and a theoretical framework to better understand the collected data. The project aims to address a gap in the study of municipal politics in post-conflict countries, an area that has been largely neglected in academic research. The project’s significance lies not only in its scholarly contribution, initiating a debate on this underexplored topic, but also in its practical applicability. The study can offer new insights into the functioning of local governance in post-conflict countries and contribute to a broader understanding of the challenges these nations face. The research outcomes are expected to enhance understanding of the attitudes of municipal councillors and their roles in these challenging contexts.