Ethnic Federalism in a Dominant Party State: The Ethiopian Experience 1991-2000 Lovise Aalen r 2002: 2

Legal documents
The legal documents are the foundation for the study of the de jure federal
system of Ethiopia. Here lie the prescriptions for how federal-regional relations
should be organised and what institutional arrangements and constitutional
guarantees the federal system implies. The legal documents will tell whether the
federal system of Ethiopia has a sufficient constitutional guarantee for regional
representation to be defined as a federation. The examination of the de jure
framework is also a pre-condition for judging the implementation and
functioning of the federal system, and is the basis for revealing whether there is
a discrepancy between federalism as a normative principle and the actual
practices of the federation.
The major document is the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia of 1994, which is the supreme law of the country. Essential are also
the regional constitutions of Tigray and SNNPRS, specifying the regional
arrangements of federalism in the two regions. The legal documents from the
transitional period will also be explored. Although the constitutions are the
most crucial documents, the Transitional charter of 1991 and various
government proclamations from that period might give information that are
left out or might clarify points that are ambiguous in the constitutions. All the
legal documents are published in the governmental Negarit Gazeta both in
English and Amharic.

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Literature
The exploration of academic literature on the subject has helped to ensure that
rival interpretations of the Ethiopian federalisation process are considered and
to identify key issues that should be included in the study. When possible, the
readings have been supplemented by interviews of academics who have written
or are currently working on the issues connected to the federalisation process in
Ethiopia. This has helped to clarify the issues further and ensure that all
relevant evidence is considered. When the conclusions of others converge with
my conclusions, it is also a good way of enhancing the “construct validity” of
my analytical generalisations.
The majority of the literature written on the Ethiopian federal system is
based on how the Ethiopian federal system is defined on paper, on its legal and
formal framework. The absence of deeper studies of the implementation and
functioning of federation could be explained by the fact that the federal system
in Ethiopia is relatively new with a short period of operation. Parts of the
literature centre around the discussion of how viable a federal system based on
ethnicity is, and why such a system was introduced in the country. This
literature is useful in my discussion on Ethiopian federalism, the normative
base for the federation and the political use of the federal “ideology”. Ottaway
(1994; 1995), Mohammed Hassen (1999), Vestal (1999) and Walle
Egedayehu (1997) are among those who see ethnic federalism and the
Ethiopian federal model as a recipe for state integration. They view federalism
as a political tool for the ruling TPLF to stay in power by a policy of “divide
and rule”. Kidane Mengisteab (1997), Henze (1998) and Cohen (1995) have
a more positive approach to the reorganisation of the Ethiopian state and see
ethnic federalism as an interesting experiment or an innovative way of
accommodating ethnic differences. In many ways, the American authors Henze
and Vestal stand as extremes in their views on the Ethiopian political system
and the ruling EPRDF. Henze, who has been involved in research on Ethiopia
from the Haile Selassie era, has been criticised for being too sympathetic to the
current government and for closing his eyes to the human rights violations and
undemocratic practices of the EPRDF
11
. Vestal is on the other side hostile to the
current regime, and has been associated to the nationalist Greater Ethiopia-
diaspora in the US. This group is found on the extreme right, defending the
unity of Ethiopia, including Eritrea.
Studies with a purer legalistic perspective, like those of Brietzke (1995),
Mattei (1995) and Aberra Jembere (1997), are helpful in providing
information about the legal and institutional arrangements of the Ethiopian
federation, the so-called de jure model.
A few studies on the functioning of the federal system have appeared in the
second half of the 1990s. A common denominator for these studies is that they
are concerned with practical more than political aspects of federalisation and
the following decentralisation of administration and government. De Jong
(1999) looks at the effects of devolution of power on the fight against poverty.
Meheret Ayenew (2000) and Tegegne Gebre Egziabher (1998) explore the
11
See and interesting discussion on EPRDF’s democratic credentials between Paul Henze,
Richard Joseph and John Harbeson in Journal of Democracy 1998, Vol. 9, No. 4.

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constraints in decentralising the country, basically the inefficient empowerment
of lower levels of government because of lack of manpower and financial
resources.
The studies of John Young (1996; 1998, 1999, 2000) are among the few
publications which consider the political aspects of the Ethiopian federalisation
process in depth. He describes the asymmetry in the process in different parts of
the country and includes both formal and informal arrangements that are
crucial for the operation of the system. Through his previous studies of the
TPLF organisation and history (Young 1997), Young has a good network of
contacts in the ruling party, which has provided him with valuable
information. Although he is considered to be a TPLF-friendly researcher, he has
given many new insights into the federalisation process. Paul (2000), in his
evaluation of the new constitutional orders in Ethiopia and Eritrea, touches
upon the importance of a centralised party organisation in the functioning of
the Ethiopian federation. Although his study is less comprehensive than those
of Young, he gives a good summary of factors determining the operation of the
federation and the political context of it.
When it comes to regional matters and conditions particular for Tigray
region and SNNPRS, the literature is meagre. Apart from studies conducted by
Aklilu Abraham on the federalisation process in Sidama and Wolaita zones in
SNNPRS (2000), I have found no studies dealing with the political sides of
federalisation in the two selected regional states. As background literature, I
have relied on for example Young’s “Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia” (1997)
on Tigray and various anthropological studies from SNNPRS (Abbink 1991).
Essentially, the data of current regional affairs in Tigray and SNNPRS has
been collected through interviews and documents.

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