Federalism and the Governance of Contested Capital Cities: Comparing Addis Ababa and Brussels

Abstract

Federal principles do not encourage the dominance of a single locus of power. This is regarded as one of the federal glues that maintain a healthy equilibrium in a federation. By focusing on Brussels and Addis Ababa—the capitals of Belgium and European Union, and Ethiopia and African Union, respectively—this article examines the governances of contested federal capital cities that transcend national politics. The article uses “contested conditions”—historical and contemporary intranational and supranational rivalries and cooperation—to argue that rather than diffusing powers to promote alternative capitals, federalism appears to have enhanced competition over the existing “primate” capital cities.

Impacts of language barriers on healthcare access and quality among Afaan Oromoo-speaking patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

“…Ethiopia is a multilingual state practicing a multinational federation system since 1995. The federation is currently made up of 11 regional states and is a home to about 80 ethnonational groups having their own languages, of which the top five major ones are Oromo (35%), Amhara (27%), Somali (6.2%), Tigrayan (6.1%), and Sidama (4.0%) [21].…”

“…Although geographically located in Oromia regional state, surrounded by the Afaan Oromoo-speaking communities in all directions (see Fig. 1) and also having many Afaan Oromoo-speaking residents, the city uses only Amharic as an official language for government services including healthcare delivery [21]. Moreover, the demographic makeup of Addis Ababa is rapidly changing particularly due to internal migration [23].…”