Ethnicity and power in ethiopia pdf file

Ethiopia adopted ethnic federalism and restructured the regions along ethnic. The study investigated the practice of ethnic federal system along with ethnic rights to selfdetermination and associated conflicts in the context of southern regional state of ethiopia. This study deals with ethnicity and inter ethnic relations in african context, with particular emphasis on the new ethiopian experiment of ethnic politics. Issues of minority rights in the ethiopian federation. Federalism was introduced in ethiopia in 1991 when the ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf came to power and launched the idea of selfdetermination for the nationalities, up to and including secession, devolving political, administrative and economic power to ethnically defined regional states. The 1974 revolution transformed what was almost a medieval empire into a highly centralized. The coercive and developmental imperatives of the state that guided its implementation. The economist intelligence units country reports analyse current trends and provide a twoyear forecast. Pdf federalism and powersharing in ethiopia kaleab. There is not any one ethnic group that claims to be in a majority position at the federal national level. Opposition to the government which provides more detail on the political context and treatment of. Ethiopia is one of ethnically diverse nations in the world. Ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front wikipedia.

This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. In general, the research findings show that although federalism either in ethnic or other forms has been implemented as a system for state building in ethiopia and nigeria, still there are. The oromo, amhara, somali and tigrayans make up more than threequarters 75% of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups. The other important issue that is rampant in ethiopia is the issue of ethnic boundary. Drivers of ethnic conflict in contemporary ethiopia. It enshrines diversity issues as the government shall have the duty to support, on the.

The planned 2004 census has unfortunately been postponed. This paper is an investigation of the relationship between identity, politics, and rumours in jimma, ethiopia. The ethnic federalization of the post1991 ethiopia and the subsequent adoption of developmental state paradigm are the two most important pillars for the countrys political and economic. Ethnicity and power in ethiopia edinburgh research archive. However, these pledges were not translated into practice. Ethnicity and power in ethiopia edinburgh research archive the.

At the same time, ethnic federalism is preferred to the forced integration of different ethnic groups, the attendant suppression of group rights, and the absence of ethnocultural justice, all of which will lead to ethnic conflict and, of course, the dissolution of ethiopia. Pdf this thesis explores why ethnicity was introduced as the basis for the reconstitution of the ethiopian state in 1991, examining the. Today, federal political systems are increasingly used by states with a multiethnic population as a mechanism to accommodate the demands of their ethnic groups as well as to protect their territorial integrity. Mapping power and ethnicity in the federal democratic republic 182. Ethnicity and constitutionalism in contemporary ethiopia. Tplfs minority ethnic monopoly of the armed forces in. Federalism in a context of extreme ethnic pluralism. Place of diversity in the current ethiopian education and. Revolutionary democratic front african politics by adopting an ethnicbased federal eprdf. This study is a qualitative research that employed both primary and secondary sources. The case of ethnicbased federalism in ethiopia journal of. Thus, the eprdf that assumed power in may 1991 after its protracted 17 year armed insurgency undertaken the reconstruction of the ethiopian state.

Whatever the merits of ethnic federalism, there is no doubt that ethnicity had by 1991 long become a significant factor in shaping many if not most of the various power struggles waged by armed liberation movements in different parts of ethiopia, and was understood as such, at least by their active and elite participants. Actors, power and mobilization under ethnic federalism, e. A comparative study by tewodros yalew submitted to central european university department of political science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts. Peoples region the case of ethiopias southern nations. The idea of ethnicity was tied to the claims that national oppression has existed in ethiopia and that the tigrean ethnic. The current regime of ethiopia eprdf implemented ethnic federalism and reshaped the state along ethnic lines as soon as it assumes political power in 1991.

Introduction much has been written about ethiopia s twentythree year experiment with ethnic. Ethnic federalism and its discontents the web site. Ethnic federalism and its discontents crisis group africa report n153, 4 september 2009 page 2 ii. The eprdfs strength and legitimacy derives from its inclusion of representatives from all of ethiopias major ethnic groups. This apparent empowerment of ethnicity represents a complete. The state administration constitutes the highest organ of executive power. Since it was considered unseemly for a woman to serve in her own right, ras tafari, the son of ras makonnen and a cousin of menilek, served as zauditus regent and heir apparent. Download pdf political parties in ethiopia free online. Ethnic federal system and conflict in the post1995. How ethnic violence is destabilising ethiopias reform gains. The introduction of ethnic federalism in ethiopia after the fall of the marxist derg regime in 1991 has been the topic of a significant amount of academic discussion, but little attention has been given to the daytoday experience of this change. Political parties in ethiopia download political parties in ethiopia ebook pdf or read online books in pdf, epub, and mobi format.

Constitution of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia. Outside of shewa, menelik and his generals extended the war of conquest to the west, east and south. Ethiopia s ancient system of feudal government experienced significant changes under haile selassie i reigned 193074, who carefully grafted onto the traditional governing institutions a weak parliament of appointed and elected legislators, a judiciary with modernized civil and criminal codes and a hierarchy of courts, and an executive. The ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf.

The one prominent exception is ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnic based federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of selfdetermination. It traces its origin to the kingdoms that emerged in the northern highlands in the fourth century. The federal system is based on the constitutional conviction that ethnic groups in ethiopia have the right to self. System of division of revenue in ethiopia alefe abeje belay lecturer, bahir dar university, ethiopia abstract in addressing the issue of the allocation of revenue raising powers, the main question is the taxation power distributed between the tiers of government in a federal system. Most governments in africa, seeing the political mobilisation of ethnicity as a threat, have rejected the use of ethnic differences as. Ethiopia will explode if it doesnt move beyond ethnic based politics. Tplfs minority ethnic monopoly of the armed forces in ethiopia a revisit after four years oct 06, 2014 the monopoly of key government decision making positions in ethiopia by individuals of one ethnic group, the tplf led tigrean elite, over the past twenty three years has never had precedence in ethiopian history. The sidama and the wolayta published on 01 jan 2011 by brill. During a court session in december 2017, inmates criticized the report for. Click download or read online button to get federalism and party politics in ethiopia book now. Ethiopias ethnic violence history with oromos, amharas.

But as ethnic clashes flare, the changes may not be enough to stabilize the nation. Issues of minority rights in the ethiopian federation by taking the objective, subjective and the combination of both criteria of defining minorities, ethiopia is a land of minorities. Despite the evolution of multiethnic ethiopia by territorial conquest, successive feudal regimes were embarked on hegemonic project of building a nationstate. The eprdfs ethnic federalism has not dampened con flict, but rather increased. Violence in the country significantly increased and spread to new areas, and four times as many people were displaced as in the previous year. Ethnic federalism and its discontents executive summary the ethiopian peoples revolutionary democratic front eprdf, led by its chairman and prime minister, meles zenawi, has radically reformed ethiopia s political system. Since its inception in 1975, some concepts have remained constant for the tplf. Standards and indicators for cultural competence in social work practice national association of social workers prabro25315. The politics of ethnicity in ethiopia actors, power and mobilisation. This country profile is a reference work, analysing the countrys history, politics, infrastructure and economy. Ethiopia the rise and reign of haile selassie i 191674. The regime transformed the hitherto centralised state into the federal democratic republic and also redefined. Among these are the power to choose its own working language, the. Drinking, rumour, and ethnicity in jimma, ethiopia africa.

Oromo nationalism helped bring abiy ahmed to power, but it could also be his undoing. Click download or read online button to political parties in ethiopia book pdf for free now. There is growing concern that ethiopia s prime minister has failed to address rising ethnic tensions and violence. The government of ethiopia, and all political parties represented within that government, have to do their level best to address the root causes of ethnic extremism, as well as engage all parties in dialogue to diffuse tensions that appear in the country on the basis of ethnic identity.

Tplfs minority ethnic monopoly of the armed forces in ethiopia a revisit after four years oct 06, 2014 the monopoly of key government decision making positions in ethiopia by individuals of one ethnic group, the tplf led tigrean elite, over the past twenty three years has never had. During this period, the derg was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of opponents without trial in the qey shibir and the 1983. Where applicable, decision makers must refer to the country policy and information note on ethiopia. D these days ethnicity is much talked issues in the contemporary world, especially in the third world, so called underdeveloped countries by developed western countries. Implementing new constitutions october 14, 2017 draft please do not cite or distribute i. Click download or read online button to get ethiopia and the state of democracy book now. Ethiopia s prime minister abiy ahmed has introduced dramatic reforms since assuming power more than nine months ago. A comparative study by tewodros yalew submitted to central european university department of political science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts supervisor prof. Ethiopia is implementing a radical programme of decentralising state power to ethnic. Ethiopia as most studies that examined the use of health services had primarily focused on adults 6. Ethnic politics in ethiopia and the church publish your. However, this had brought the national questions as the politicoideological agenda by the. The failure of the opposition to fill the power vacuum left behind by siad barre after his flight into exile in 1991 marked the beginning of disintegration of somalia. Consistent with the provisions of this constitution, the council has power to draft, adopt and amend the state constitution.

Evil days 30 years of war and famine in ethiopia an africa watch report september 1991 485 fifth avenue new york, ny 100176104 tel. This constitution is an expression of their sovereignty. The historical trajectories of local ethnic polities. Federalism and party politics in ethiopia download ebook.

The eprdfs strength and legitimacy derives from its inclusion of representatives from all of ethiopia s major ethnic groups. Using comparative and empirical approaches, this study analyses the impacts of federalism on ethnic conflicts in ethiopia in general and in the somali and benishangulgumuz regions in particular. Federalism and the accommodation of ethnic diversity core. Today, federal political systems are increasingly used by states with a multi ethnic population as a mechanism to accommodate the demands of their ethnic groups as well as to protect their territorial integrity. Ethiopia must abandon ethnic politics or it will explode. Ethiopia figure analysis displacement related to conflict and violence context ethiopia experienced the highest number of new displacements related to conflict and violence in the world in 2018. These include ethnicity, vanguard leadership, and a statist economy. Ethiopia s population is highly diverse with different languages and ethnic groups. History and ideology 57 selfadministration through regional autonomy. Conflict and state security in the horn of africa 43 1981 to resist authoritarianism and brutality against the deprived people.

The study challenges the already existing thoughts on ethnicity, which map the concept on contours of polar extremes. Inequalities on the basis of gender, ethnicity, social class and many other factors affect the lives of many people in a country that is as diverse as ethiopia and features more than 90 ethnic and linguistic groups. This was partly because ethiopia s political and economic model differs significantly from the framework of the liberal peacebuilding agenda. The question then is, why has ethnic based1 violence spiralled especially since. Ethnicity, democratisation and decentralization in ethiopia 85 while using naked force to suppress the same demands on the other. Ethnic federalism in ethiopia offered the prospect of a shift away from the high modernism of that states past projects to develop its people, apparently in. Most of its people speak an ethiosemitic or cushitic language which are both part of the afroasiatic language family, while others speak nilosaharan languages. Journal of eastern african studies ethnicbased federalism and. As ethiopia has not so far allowed open contestation for power, it is difficult to tell the. Pdf an integrated approach to the study of ethnicity and. The 1994 ethiopian census indicates that there were 21,757 harari speakers. If ethnicity is manufactured at will and manipulated to serve any number of selfish purposes, then it is only an object, the case for calling it a cause of the numerous problems regularly attributed to it would not be sustainable. Tplfs minority ethnic monopoly of the armed forces in ethiopia.

The demographics of ethiopia encompass the demographic features of ethiopia s inhabitants, including ethnicity, languages, population density, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Most governments in africa, seeing the political mobilisation of ethnicity as a threat, have rejected the use of ethnic differences as an explicit basis for political representation. Ethiopia is politically organised in a system of ethnic federalism, under which the country is divided into ethnicallydefined regions and zones. Ethiopia ethiopia the rise and reign of haile selassie i 191674. Social groups may also compete among themselves in the definition of their respective identities and in their attempts to impose their visions of integration and development on society. When the current government came to power in 1991, reconfigured the country into different states based on ethnic dimension of diversity semela, 2014. A national study conducted by moh on selected urban areas of ethiopia oromia, amahara, southern people and tigray howed s that youth couldnt properly utilize the available health service 7. Soon after the coalition came together, it introduced an ethnic federal system of governance to try and address historic ethnic grievances by giving ethiopia s different regions the chance to. The politics of ethnicity in ethiopia actors, power and. In most cases, they have ethnic overtones or involve ethnic groups. Therefore, the ethnic groups of ethiopia are constitu tionally coupled to specific regional states and it is within and through these states that they exercise their right to selfdetermination. The constitution grants important competences to the regional states. Constitutional protection of ethnic minorities at the regional level it is argued that in order to evaluate the capacity of the ethiopian federal structure to accommodate ethnic diversity and to regulate ethnic conflicts, the research cannot be limited to an analysis of the constitutional mechanisms at the federal level. Personal identity as well as cultural identity ethnic identity always materialise in relation to somebody else.

Ethnic federalism in ethiopia offered the prospect of a shift away from the high modernism of that states past projects to develop its people, apparently in favour of the collective perspectives of groups of its citizens. Abate mammo, a demographer, deflated the false sense of demographic reality in his article, population distribution in ethiopia. So far, ethiopia has conducted two decennial national censusesin 1984 and again in 1994. The problem in ethiopia has historically not been limited to the excessive centralisation of power in the capital, but has also centred on the question of cultural marginalisation, assimilation.

Most harari people are bilingual in amharic and oromo, both of which are also afroasiatic languages. Their sovereignty shall be expressed through their representatives elected in accordance with this constitution and through their direct democratic participation article 9 supremacy of the. Tplf which fought a sixteen year war against the derg. This multiplicity in language, religion, culture, tradition and the overall identity is actually a beauty for the country considering the fact that the peoples of ethiopia have had the culture of living together without any narrowly and shallowlyfocused ethnic belongingness. Ethnicity and power in ethiopia john young ethiopia is implementing a radical programme of decentralising state power to ethnic based regional units, which could be of interest to other countries in africa faced with demands of ethnic communities for a greater role in the state. A closer look at the nature of the perennial struggles for the remaking of ethiopia, clearly shows the centrality of the competing ethnic nationalists claims for an equitable share of power and resources under the command of the state merera 2002. Utilization of youth reproductive health services and. Federalism and the accommodation of ethnic diversity.

About 20,000 of these individuals were concentrated outside harar, in ethiopia s capital addis ababa. The imperial period 1974 ethiopia is the only african state never colonised by a foreign power. Ethnicity and power in ethiopia john young ethiopia is implementing a radical programme of decentralising state power to ethnicbased regional units, which could be of interest to other countries in africa faced with demands of ethnic communities for a greater role in the state. Another was drafted in 1974 in the early stages of the revolution, but it was ignored and shelved by the derg military council which took over power later that year. So, ethiopia experienced two major transitions in the course of the last five decades that are central to understanding the state of democracy and marketbased economy in ethiopia today. Exploring the experience of the house of federation hof assefa fiseha, dr. Although ethiopia is not new to ethnic based conflicts, their scale and intensity in the short time since prime minister abiy ahmed alis rise to power has been alarming. In contrast to those regions where a single titular group. Ethiopia into an ethnic federation poses sets of opportunities and. This book provides a detailed empirical study of this system at work in the complex multiethnic environment of southern ethiopia. Jul 28, 2009 it was the fourth ethiopian constitution promulgated for the last 65 years. Perpetuating power cru report, september 2016 on a final note, it should be noted that this research proved to be a difficult endeavour.

All sovereign power resides in the nations, nationalities and peoples of ethiopia. Ethiopia and the state of democracy download ebook pdf. Today, federalism is increasingly suggested and applied as a politicalconstitutional mechanism to accommodate ethnic pluralism. In association with state formation, new constitution was also promulgated in 1995. The eprdf is a coalition of ethnic political movements, dominated by the tigray peoples liberation front. The state council has the power of legislation on matters falling under state jurisdiction. Ethnicity and the state in eastern africa edited by m. The one prominent exception is ethiopia, which since 1991 has imposed a system of ethnicbased federalism that offers each ethnic group the right of selfdetermination. Here, a point that should not be missed in any intellectual venture to understand ethnicity is the paradox that surrounds identity politics. Actors, power and mobiliza tion under ethnic federalism, is made up of a laconic preface, eight. The limits of institutions in multiethnic societies published on 01 jan 2011 by brill. Ethnicity, democratisation and decentralization in. A means to an end daniel abebe the university of chicago law school draft prepared for conference from parchment to practice. During the ethiopian civil war, the eprdf was a rebel group battling the derg, a military regime led by mengistu haile mariam that was effectively in power from 1974 until it was replaced by the peoples democratic republic of ethiopia in 1987.