The Practice and Challenges of Regional Policy Making in Ethiopian Federation: The Case of Gambela Peoples’ National Regional State

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the practice of public policy making (agenda setting-policy adoption) in Gambela National Regional State, Ethiopia. To this end, the study utilized a mixed research approach and descriptive research design. The study found that the legal foundations of public policymaking of GPNRS include the constitution of FDRE (1995), the revised constitution of GPNRS (2002). Moreover, the administrative council of GPNRS and the ruling political party of GPNRS are the constitutionally mandated public policy actors and structures in GPNRS are the council of GPNRS. Though the constitutional guarantee for autonomous regional public policy making, in practice few central policy elites of EPRDF have played an exclusive role in defining and identifying policy problems and setting policy agenda. Whereas the legislature and the executive organs of GPNRS, under the strict control of the regional state’s ruling party remained to be platforms of policy formulation and adoption. Thereby study found that the practice of regional policy making failed to realize the exercise of the constitutional right of regional public policy making; and hence the constitutional promise of self-rule in GPNRS. The study has also found that: the political ideology of revolutionary democracy and decision making system of ‘democratic centralism’ and ‘party discipline’; the intermingling of the ruling party institutions and government institutions; Lower public participation; in-competency of policy makers and lack policy analysis unit; a fusion of power between the executive and legislative organ; and the asymmetric nature of Ethiopian federalism has also posed challenge in undermining the exercise of the constitutional promise of regional policy making; and hence self-rule in GPNRS. Hence it is recommended that deepening democratization, promoting decentralization of decision-making system, avoiding the intermingling of political party and government, establishing policy analysis units and building the policy making capacity of regional policy makers to realize the constitutional promise of regional public policy making in GPNRS.