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Title The Ethiopian Quest for Democracy in a Dominant Party State: A Case Study on Democratization in Ethiopia Since the Implementation of Ethnic Federalism in 1995
Full text http://hdl.handle.net/1887/19290
Date 2012
Author(s) Dahla, C.E.M.
Contributor(s) Erk, Dr. J.G.; Zwart, Dr. F. de
Abstract From 1991 and onwards, Ethiopia has gone through a political transition using ethnicity as the fundamental principle for organizing a federal government. The transition of this change ended in the newly elected government in August 1995. The country is divided into nine separate federal states based on ethnic identity. The change of the political structure of the country has been radical and pioneering. Radical, in the sense that Ethiopia used to be a centralized and unitary state. Pioneering, in the sense that it has gone further than any African state, and further than 'almost any other state worldwide' (Clapham 2002: 27) in using ethnicity as the principle for organizing the federal state system (Turton 2006: 1). This change was meant to mark a beginning for a more democratized society after decades of political suppression and authoritarianism. Thus, this radical and pioneering, yet fundamental change in the society was received with hopefulness of a better and more democratic tomorrow in Ethiopia. This thesis will look at how the Ethiopian quest for democratization has succeeded.
Subject(s) Ethiopia; Democratization; Ethnic Federalism; Dominant party state; EPRDF
Language en
Type of publication Master thesis
Repository Leiden - University of Leiden
Added to C-A: 2012-07-16;13:44:57