Abstract
Federalism as a political idea has become increasingly important as a way of peacefully reconciling the principles of unity and diversity typically in multi-national states. Actually, federalism is not a universal remedy for all challenges of ethnic diversity or ethnic conflicts rather it has considered as a means to achieve the end particularly in ethnically heterogeneous states. Therefore, the very objective of this paper is to critically examine the actual practices of unity in diversity at Benishangul-Gumuz regional state (hereafter used as BGRS). In this context, this paper investigate in detail policies and institutions designed for accommodation of ethnic diversity in the study region. Based on the information gained through the various research instruments the writer concluded that non-indigenous ethnic groups are in a better manner accommodated at Kebele level of government than Woreda and regional levels of government in BGRS. Therefore, failure to adequately accommodate non-indigenous ethnic groups particularly in the regional legislative and executive organs and Woreda executive organ of the government in its part challenging the unity of BGRS. Keywords: Federalism; Accommodation of Diversity; Ethnic Diversity; Ethnic Unity; BGRS; Indigenous and Non-indigenous Ethnic Group DOI : 10.7176/RHSS/10-1-01 Publication date: January 31 st 2020
Highlights
Diversity as a social fact always exists everywhere in the world
According to FDRE constitution every nation, nationality and people in Ethiopia has the right to a full measure of self-government which includes the right to establish institutions of government in the territory that it inhabits and to equitable representation in state and federal governments (Art 39(3))
1.5 Overview of Administrative Arrangement of BGRS Government The constitution of BGRS has clearly stated that the regional government shall be organized with four hierarchically structured tiers of government
Summary
Diversity as a social fact always exists everywhere in the world. But in most countries ethno-linguistic diversities have been considered as a burden to realize state unity. The institutional accommodation and fair representation of ethnic cleavages of the regional state can be used as the best indicator for the inclusive political participation of the existing diversity in the region. Www.iiste.org paper tries to assess how the institutional principles of self-rule and shared-rule matrix can and have been translated into institutional arrangements practically in the region to realise the capacity of federalism to the challenges of ethnic diversity in the region. To this end, this study has addressed the following key research questions: How could the imperatives of regional unity and diversity be reconciled in the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State? This study has addressed the following key research questions: How could the imperatives of regional unity and diversity be reconciled in the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State? Has Benishangul Gumuz Regional State Constitution provided a legal and institutional framework for accommodating the diverse groups in the region? And what does the trend look like so far?
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