LASZLO BRUSZT

László Bruszt, Director of the CEU Democracy Institute, is a distinguished scholar specializing in regime change, economic transformation, and transnational governance. Actively engaged in Hungary's democratic transition, he played a key role as National Secretary of the newly formed independent trade unions during the 1989 Roundtable Negotiations. He joined CEU in 1992, later serving as Acting Rector and President in 1996/97, and held a professorship at the European University Institute in Florence from 2004 to 2016. His academic career spans leading institutions in Europe and the United States, including teaching positions at Notre Dame, the New School for Social Research, and Cornell University, alongside research fellowships at Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin, the Budapest Collegium, and Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences. His work offers deep insights into the political and institutional dimensions of economic integration, with a particular focus on Europe's Eastern and Southern peripheries.

Professor Bruszt's research explores the evolving dynamics of regional governance and transnational integration. He examined the impact of EU regional development programs on local institutional structures and developmental agencies. He investigated how integration regimes such as the EU and NAFTA shape institutional development in emerging market democracies. Through support from the Global Governance Programme, the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, and the Inter-American Development Bank, he leads a research initiative on Transnational Integration Regimes (TIRs), analyzing their role in driving domestic institutional change in developing economies. His expertise continues to shape global debates on governance, market regulation, and economic adaptation in an increasingly interconnected world.