The University of Zagreb (1669) is the oldest and biggest university in South-Eastern Europe. As a comprehensive public Central European university, University of Zagreb offers education and research and in all scientific fields (arts, biomedicine, biotechnology, engineering, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences) and a broad spectrum of courses at all study levels, from undergraduate to postgraduate. With 29 Faculties, 3 Art Academies and the University Centre for Croatian Studies it is the flagship educational institution in the country, a place where more than 7900 teachers and 72480 students develop knowledge and acquire skills.
Faculty of Political Science of Zagreb University is the oldest political science educational and research institution in this part of Europe and the only programme of political science in The Republic of Croatia. In fulfilling socially responsible dimension of its mission, the Faculty has been recognized as a research institution that can offer expert knowledge and advisory services to various stakeholders in the process of public policy development, with an emphasis on supporting active Croatian EU membership and full utilization of its development potential. Faculty members participate as advisors and members of various working groups within different government bodies, especially in the areas of national security, elections, public administration reform, social policy and educational policy with an emphasis on civic education. Faculty members teach public policy courses at the State School for Public Administration and are mentors to high ranking civil servants attending the school.
Faculty academics are also active commentators of political decision making processes dealing with various topics of public interest. They provide independent assessment of different social issues and developments, and offer solutions to social problems, contributing to the development of democratic political culture in Croatia. The research program of the Faculty of Political Science is directed toward development of research projects within Faculty’s principal academic disciplines which include political theory/history of political ideas, Croatian politics/European Union politics, comparative politics, international relations and national security, public policy/public governance, communication science, the media, media policies. Within these segments special attention is devoted to: research of the development and implementation of national public policies within the context of Europeanization and research of their effects; research into the representativeness and responsiveness of the political system, parties and the media in national politics; analysis of the processes of integration and disintegration in South-East Europe throughout history and in the context of EU integration, including the aspect relating to security and establishment of peace; and research of the media system and its role in the political system and public communication in contemporary Croatian society. This research program is planned to be carried out through participation in national and international research projects and networks.
Team members
Marta Zorko
Marta Zorko, PhD. is Associate Professor at Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb with an interest in Political geography and Geopolitics, Border Studies and Security Studies. She holds PhD. in International Relations and National Security with Thesis on open border issues of Republic of Croatia. She teaches at the Faculty of Political Science and at Faculty of Economic and Business, University of Zagreb. She served for three years (2014 – 2017) as Vice Dean for Academic and Student Affairs as Deputy Graduate Chair for P.Spec.MA in Security Studies, served (2014 – 2022) as Faculty representative in The Council for Military Studies as well as a Head of Department of International Relations and Security studies (2020 – 2022).
Višeslav Raos
Višeslav Raos is an Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb. He holds a PhD in Comparative Politics from the University of Zagreb and a MPhil in Political Science from the University of Vienna. He teaches courses on Comparative Politics, Electoral Studies, and the political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His research interests include Voter Behavior, Europeanization of Party Politics, Social Cleavages, Regionalism, and Ethnicity. He completed quantitative methods training at the University of Essex and was on a short study visit at KU Leuven.
Petar Popović
Petar Popović is an associate professor at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, where he teaches Theories of International Relations, Introduction to the Study of International Politics and Modern International History. Previously he lectured at Libertas International University in Zagreb and Dubrovnik. He specializes in International Relations and has published numerous journal articles and book chapters and has delivered conference papers within IR. Popović is the author of three books in Croatian: Controversies in the Theories of International Relations (Zagreb 2012); The Crisis of the 21st Century International Order (Zagreb 2014), and Finis Africae: Realist Perspectives on Global Governance (Zagreb 2021).
Borna Zgurić
Borna Zgurić is an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations and Security Studies, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb. He holds a PhD in Comparative Politics from the University of Zagreb. His primary research interests are regional studies of Middle East and North Africa and war and peace studies, and he is one of very few scholars in Croatia with the research focus on North Africa. At the BA level he teaches Contemporary Civilisations and Theories and Policies of Peace. From 2017. till 2020. He has been the Secretary of Croatian Political Science Association. Furthermore, from 2017. till present he has served as the Deputy Director of the Postgraduate Study of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb.
Josip Lučev
Josip Lučev is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, where he is the principal lecturer in the courses Political economy of the European Union, and Croatia in International Economic Relations He attained his MA in political science in 2010, as well as an MA in social policy at the Faculty of Law in Zagreb in 2013, and his PhD in 2020 at the Faculty of Political Science. He served as one of the editors in Little Leviathan (Mali Levijatan), executive editor in International Studies (Međunarodne studije), and a contributing editor for Algoritam and Jesenski i Turk. He cooperated with National University of Public Service in Budapest, University of Wrocław and University of Salzburg. He is the author of the book Systemic Cycle and Institutional Change: Labor Markets in the USA, Germany and China published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2021.