Ethnic Federalism and Self-Determination for Nationalities in a Semi-Authoritarian State: the Case of Ethiopia

Ethnic federal system and conflict in the post-1995 Ethiopia: The case of southern regional state

“…Integrationist impetus and power centralization vis-à-vis the formal federal system is characterizing the government policy. The greatest challenge in the Ethiopian politics is the EPRDF"s reticence to live up to its promises and principles (Hagmann and Abbink, 2011;Aalen, 2006). The EPRDF rhetoric of "ethnic free-for all" policy was waned when these five regional units of transitional period were unilaterally conflated into one as the SNNPRS.…”

“…As a legitimate response to the National Questions, the TPLF/ EPRDF adopted a federal system and formalized ethnic rights to self-determination up to secession. By transforming itself into multi-ethnic EPRDF, the TPLF enlarged its programme and ideology nationwide with the ambition of creating a renewed, "revolutionary-democratic centralist federalism" instead of an enforced unitary state (Hagmann and Abbink, 2011;Aalen, 2006). By adopting an ethnic-based federal system along with ethnic right to self-determination up to secession, Ethiopia has gone further than any other African states and further than almost any state worldwide.…”

Seed for change : the making and implementation of seed policies in Ethiopia

“…Such obedience is very much linked to the democratic centralism of the party system and the blurred boundaries between the executive and the ruling party. This centralism promotes accountability to the party instead of to the legislative that is supposed to play a direct role in policy making (Aalen 2006;Lefort 2013). As such, the introduction of a formal government structure that separates power between the executive and the legislature does not define the policy making process in Ethiopia.…”

“…Although Ethiopia is home to more than 80 ethnic groups, former governments of Ethiopia neglected this diversity, and focused solely on promoting the concept of a homogenous Ethiopia until 1991 (Aalen 2006;Tewfik 2010;Zimmermann-Steinhart and Bekele 2012). As noted by Green (2011), "[i]n contrast to previous governments, the Zenawi regime has focused its efforts on promoting rather than neglecting ethnicity, as it created a system of ethnic federalism enshrined in its 1995 constitution" (p. 1095).…”

Le musée Konso au cœur de l'arène : quand les courtiers en développement (re)dessinent les contours du champ politique éthiopien

“…Ainsi, le développementalisme devient une idéologie plus qu'une politique économique, visant à légitimer le contrôle de l'État et ses actions de répression contre l'opposition et la société civile, présentant les auteurs de tout acte de réprobation comme les ennemis du développement (Aalen, 2006). Or, l'État éthiopien n'a pas les moyens de mener tous ces objectifs de front.…”