The quest for change and political reforms in Ethiopia, 1855-1974: Retrospective analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT The deep-seated backwardness of Ethiopia against its longstanding history of civilization-cum-statehood is a puzzle for most Ethiopians. Vented from this anomaly, while criticising the public for resistance to change and rulers for retrogressive policies, intellectuals have constantly called for change through idiomatic and euphemistic writings. However, regardless of the gamut of recommendations for all-inclusive change, imperial rulers introduced façade reforms as bureaucratic and legal instruments of power consolidation without institutional pattern, socio-economic base, and public acquiescence. To this end, reforms introduced with greater expectations eventually led to political disasters often accompanied by regime change. Using an interpretive approach, this article retraces imperial regimes’ reform attempts vis-à-vis intellectuals’ quest for change to situate the current reform-quest dynamics. By reviewing classic works written in Amharic language, this article argues that the legacies of court-centred approach, lack of social base, and disregard for public concern shaped the quest for change and reform dynamics, and pushed the state into chaotic socio-economic and political conditions.