Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Research Articles

The Dynamics between the Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Polity in Modern Ethiopia and Its Role in Establishing Peace in the Country

The interaction between the Orthodox Church and the state in Ethiopia has undergone various phases throughout the country's history. Emperor Haile Selassie, who came to power in 1930, sought to modernise Ethiopia by adopting Western educational and administrative systems. This included restructuring the Church administration to establish a centralised hierarchy for easier control. The military regime that seized power in 1974, inspired by Marxist and Leninist ideologies, showed strong hostility towards religion. When this regime took over the Patriarchate in Addis Ababa, Church administration shifted back to influential monasteries in rural Ethiopia, leading to a period of reduced activity, often termed hibernation. Communist propaganda which aimed at secularising the urban youth population gained some traction until the regime's overthrow in 1991 following the collapse of the USSR. The quasi-democratic regime of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, which took power in 1991–92, liberated all religious communities from political suppression. They introduced an ethnic federalism system, dividing the country into states based on ethnicity. However, this regime later faced accusations of favouring a single ethnic group, leading to the rise of the current oligarchical government in 2017. Consequently, the Orthodox Church saw a decline in its political influence. This paper examines these historical and political developments in relation to Church history to understand the Ethiopian Orthodox Church's role in past, present and future peace restoration efforts, particularly following recent conflicts in northern Ethiopia.

From imperial power to regional policeman: Ethiopian peacekeeping and the developmental state

Abstract Why and how do African states become peacekeepers? Through a single-case study, this article accounts for a transformation in peace and security: how Ethiopia became the world's prime source of blue helmets in the early twenty-first century, having largely shunned peacekeeping in preceding decades. We propose that peacekeeping came to serve as an unexpectedly useful technology to pursue state-building agendas. Historically, regional proxy wars undermined state-building efforts in Ethiopia and mismanagement of ethno-linguistic diversity rendered it vulnerable to externally supported rebellions. In the 2000s, an evolving approach to peacekeeping dovetailed with the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front's (EPRDF) vision for recalibrating political order domestically and in the Horn of Africa. EPRDF became convinced that changing Ethiopia required changing its surrounding region. Regional intervention as peacekeeping was supported by global powers and helped bind neighbouring states to Ethiopia in new ways. This entailed the crafting of deep political ties in Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan that mitigated historical fears of Ethiopian hegemony and shielded EPRDF state-building from outside destabilization. Moreover, as Ethiopia's increasingly prominent role in United Nations and African Union missions improved the external environment for the EPRDF developmental state, it also expanded Ethiopian National Defence Force's role in the political economy, buttressing the party-state's hegemony.

The making and re-making of administrative regions in Ethiopia, 1907-2018: policy changes and continuities

ABSTRACT Ethiopia is one of the places in the ancient world where state formation took place, with its distinct cultural and technological advancements. Ethiopia has experienced the making and re-making of administrative regions several times in its long history. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to document the policy changes and continuities that were prevalent in the making and re-making of administrative regions in Ethiopia from 1907 to 2018. The researchers employed a qualitative research approach in the sense that both primary and secondary data were collected through document analysis and semi-structured interviews of key informants. This was followed by the selection, organization, and cross-checking of the data before it was analyzed and presented on paper. The findings of this study showed that, since the establishment of the Ministry of Interior in 1907, the rulers of Ethiopia formulated administrative policy/guideline based on their own administrative and political motives with which the country’s administrative regions were organized and reorganized. The administrative regions of the country showed little or no change from 1962 to 1991. A major shift in the administrative policy of the country, however, came about during the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) rule from 1991 to 2018.

Ideology, grand strategy and the rise and decline of Ethiopia's regional status

Abstract Ethiopia transformed from a state on the verge of collapse at the end of the Cold War into one of the world's fastest-developing economies and a regional power in the Horn of Africa in less than two decades. Since 2018 its economic, military and diplomatic status have, however, become significantly compromised yet again. What explains these significant fluctuations in regional power status? Drawing on policy documents and in-depth interviews with diplomatic, military and political officials from the Horn of Africa this article conducts a comparative analysis of the nature and variation of Ethiopia's regional power status under the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 2000–2018 and the Prosperity Party (PP) in 2018–2022. The findings illustrate that the fluctuations in regional power were primarily caused by different grand strategies, which in turn reflected the priorities of the EPRDF's developmental state and the PP's restorative nationalist ideologies. These grand strategic concepts shaped Ethiopian government policies on key issues like defence doctrine, status-seeking, economic development, and rivalry and alliance management. These policies had a direct and significant impact on Ethiopia's state capacity, its ability to project military power and its diplomatic influence.

A history of road construction and its socio-economic impact in East Gojjam,1941-2005

In Ethiopia, infrastructure development remains one of the largely neglected areas of historical research. This paper, therefore, surveys the history of road building and its socio-economic impact in East Gojjam from 1941 to 2005. To this end, archival documents, oral information and secondary sources were consulted. The findings show that the post-liberation imperial period saw no significant development on the opening of new routes. Road construction reawakened during the military regime. It witnessed promising road networks that encompassed highway, feeder and rural roads. In contrast, road construction remained sluggish during the reign of the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) under discussion. The transitional government lifetime (1991-1995) was in particular a gloomy period. The failure of successive governments in expanding the road network emanated from economic, political, policy and related issues. Despite this, the impact of the nascent road network that extended all through the three regimes is clearly observable from the increasingly socio-economic interaction that appeared in the region and beyond.

A critique of building a developmental state in the EPRDF's Ethiopia

ABSTRACT This article explores the main features of Ethiopia's ‘developmental state’ and takes a critical look at how the model is applied in practice, capturing parallels and contradictions through comparative evidence with that of the East Asia model. Accordingly, it notes that the East Asian model has a strong ideological influence on the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) regime, allowing it to formulate a strong vision of development, but this, although it contributed to economic growth, failed to ensure democracy and stability in the country. It argues that land grabbing and political instability are the biggest threats to Ethiopia's development prospects.

Adolescents’ capabilities and aspirations across gender and generations in Amhara, Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Insights into the role of changing historical-political-cultural contexts and social norms in shaping adolescent girls’ and boys’ futures contributes to an understanding of human development at the intersection of gender and youth in low- and middle-income countries. This study investigates the capabilities and aspirations of adolescent girls and boys and their evolution in Amhara against the background of three successive political regimes that governed Ethiopia over the last 90 years, the Haile-Selassie imperial regime (1930–1974), the socialist military Derg regime (1974–1991), and the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (1991–2019), each with their own institutions, structures and infrastructure, and gender- and age-related relations and norms. The study adopts a capability approach with a gender and generationing development lens as a framework and relies on qualitative data collected through community- and mixed-generation group discussions. The study illustrates that, even if institutional and structural barriers became less stringent over time, cumulative gender- and age-related obstacles – some rooted in beliefs, norms, traditions and relations – hindered the expansion of adolescents’ capability success, consistently more so for girls than boys. (The threat of) gender-based violence pervasively constrains girls’ capabilities success and aspirations in spite of more formal protective institutions.

‘Just keep silent’. Teaching under the control of authoritarian governments: A qualitative study of government schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

In the light of globally resurging authoritarianism, this paper investigates how Ethiopia’s prior ruling party Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front governed teachers to produce conformity with the regime’s objectives. The study draws from qualitative data collected in late 2018 in Addis Ababa with 77 education actors. We demonstrate how ordinary educational governance mechanisms serve as apparatuses of surveillance and sanction that create a climate of fear. The rigid control significantly hinders teachers in their everyday work by isolating and paralysing them. Despite recent changes in Ethiopia’s political system, this study underlines the need to consider the challenges that teachers face due to authoritarian control in discussions about education’s potential to contribute to democracy and peace.

The political-economy of land acquisition and privatization of Birr and Ayehu Farms in Amhara Region, North-West Ethiopia

The recognition of commercial agricultural investment led to the expansion of large-scale farms through eviction of farmers during the Derg and Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) regimes. But anti-dispossession voices and investment driven violence have frequently occurred in post-Derg Ethiopia. This study thus attempts to uncover the political-economy of land acquisition and privatization of Birr and Ayehu farms. The necessary data for the study were collected through interview, questionnaire, focused group discussion and document review. The data collected through questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The findings of the study indicated that the farms were began during the Derg regime as public enterprises, and later privatized to Ethio-Agri-CEFT in a neo-patrimonial modality with a gigantic trend of land acquisition, legal distortion and violation of landholding rights. This poor and neo-patrimonial operation of farms jeopardized local livelihoods, created land use change and evoked stiff public grievance, political upheaval and polarized state–society relations. This indicated that the expansion of farms have brought lopsided development to party affiliated investors by dismantling local livelihoods. Ethio Agri-CEFT thus should respect legal frameworks and adopt inclusive developmental practices for its sustainability and success.

Crises and Crossroads in Ethiopia

Crises and Crossroads in Ethiopia

State-Building and Development in Ethiopia: From “Developmental State” to “Prosperity” Model

Abstract State-building and development are mutually reinforcing phenomena. The sustainability of development depends on the stability of state's political-structural foundation and the prospect of peace, which is influenced by the origin and evolution of the state. Every regime in Ethiopia has portrayed its advent as a new dawn for the country's development. In recent history, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) introduced a “developmental state” model and registered notable economic growth on aggregate but failed on accounts of equitable distribution. The EPRDF regime used the “developmental state” model to enhance the centralization of state power and circumvent regional autonomy. In 2018, the Prosperity Party (PP) introduced a “prosperity” model. From the EPRDF to the PP, there are signals of a radical shift of approach in state-building and development. This article analyzes the premises and promises of the multinational federation and “developmental state” model under the EPRDF regime, and the unitarist orientation and “prosperity” paradigm under the PP. I argue that the radical shift of direction from the multinational federalism towards a unitary state is unrealistic and fundamentally shatters the prospect of development.

Vicious circle of Ethiopian politics: Prospects and challenges of current political reform

In Ethiopia, different political reforms have taken place. Following this, the country circled viciously into wars at many times. The Derg regime deposed Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974. And the Derg was defeated by the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition party in 1991. Albeit the coalition party ruled Ethiopia for more than 27 years, it obliged to make political reform because of high protest from Oromo youths. However, there are debates among scholars regarding the success of current political reforms in Ethiopia. It needs the attention of scholars and political scientists to examine the vicious circle of Ethiopian political reforms. This study addresses the knowledge gaps concerning the prospects and challenges of current political reform in Ethiopia. The finding of this research reveals that the beginning of the political reforms was hopeful because of released political prisoners, returned an exiled political opponents, Ethio-Eritrea rapprochement, and empowerment of women. Later, the constitutional crisis, detentions of many people and opponents, violations of fundamental rights, and war between the central government and the Tigray Region challenged the reforms. It concluded that the Ethiopian political reform circled viciously and could not realize the intended goals because there is mass detention, killing, and eviction like previous governments. The researcher recommended that the detained people and opposition political parties need to be released and come to the table discussion and debate to realize the reform and ensure democratization.

Nationalism and self‐determination in contemporary Ethiopia

AbstractThe 1995 Ethiopian Constitution envisions a multinational state with the right to self‐determination, including secession, given to the nations, nationalities, and peoples of the country. This remarkable document is a product of a unique combination of Ethiopia's history, Marxist‐Leninist debates of the 1974 revolution, and political circumstances of the time the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took power in 1991. The subsequent 20 years witnessed a concerted attempt to implement measures for federal decentralization alongside continued political centralization in the ruling party, with several intended and unintended consequences. Since 2016, a combination of the manipulation of constitutional provisions for personal and factional advantage, and polarized perspectives over the identity and future of the country, have unveiled a chapter of political crisis. The 1995 Constitution is hardly a cause of this crisis, yet the fate of the Constitution has become central to the dynamics of the crisis.

Center-states Policy Coordination in the Ethiopian Federalism: Institutional Perspective

Ethiopia as a modern multicultural and multilingual state emerged in the second half of 19 century following the military expansion of Emperor Menelik II. Paradoxically, since then for about more than a century political and legal protection had not given to the inherent multicultural and multilingual realities of the nation. However, 1991 was remarkable in the sense that the new government led by Ethiopian People Revolutionary Front (EPRDF) adopted Ethnic Federalism with the view to constitutionally recognize and institutionally accommodate the issue of nationalities in the history of Ethiopia. Although the constitution established two levels of governments and conferred them with different sets of responsibilities they are interdependent in a wide range of important political, economic and social matters. Indeed, the interdependence of the federal state and the regional states necessitates their cooperation and hence effective form of policy coordination through sound intergovernmental relations (IGR) is crucial for the smooth and efficient application of their responsibilities. The presumption in such institutional arrangement is that the federal and constituent units are represented in intergovernmental relations institutions so that decisions/ policies passed takes in to account the interest of both orders of government, states and federal. This article has attempted to examine the practice and theories of Inter-Governmental Relation (IGR) in the Ethiopian Federalism from policy coordination perspectives using secondary sources/document analysis and found out that, theoretically, the 1995 constitution is neither clear on the system of vertical intergovernmental relations (IGR) and, practically, nor in establishing guiding principles/institution in charge with such authority. Hence, the status of intergovernmental relation and policy coordination in Ethiopia not only dominated by the federal government but also largely carried out by informal channels.

The Pitfalls of Ethnolinguistic-Based Federal Experiment in Ethiopia

In 1991, when Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) became a leading party within the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), Ethiopia introduced a system of ethnic-based federalism, which had never been practiced in the political history of the state before. The recognition of Ethiopian ethnic diversity became one of the country’s fundamental principles, with the federal system largely consisting of ethnic-based territorial units. Since its inception, Ethiopia's ethnic federalism has been the subject of heated debate among various political organizations in the country, as well as among observers and scholars both in and outside the country. The key objective of this paper is to appraise the pitfalls of ethnic-based federalism in Ethiopia, which has been functioning in the country for more than two and half decades. The authors believe ethnic-based federalism to be a political arrangement that succeeds to maintain balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces. They see it as an appropriate and viable strategy for a sustainable nation-building effort in the context of Ethiopia’s ethnic diversity. At the same time, the authors observe that in the case with ethnicity-based political arrangements, unless they are implemented with maximum care, the risk outweighs the benefit. When a state like Ethiopia, which had been highly centralized for many years, is trying to experiment with a seemingly federal arrangement, the equilibrium of diversity and unity should be maintained. If the political environment focuses primarily on diversity and ignores shared values and common identity, it leaves room for the elites to manipulate the differences and pursue their own parochial political interests, which would eventually serve against the public benefit. The pioneers of Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism believe that the contemporary ethnolinguistic-based federal arrangement is a panacea for problems related to identity politics. However, the authors argue that, from a practical perspective, for the past two and half decades (probably in the future too, unless re-designed) ethnic federalism in Ethiopia has been highly politicized (manipulated by political dealers promoting their own selfish interests).

The aspiring developmental state and business associations in Ethiopia – (dis-)embedded autonomy?

AbstractThis article investigates how the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front's (EPRDF) attempt to build a developmental state influenced and shaped its relationships with the Ethiopian private sector. Through a case study of the chambers of commerce system in Ethiopia, the research reveals that the EPRDF's relationship to the private sector was characterised by the twin objectives of (1) curbing the private sector's power to prevent challenges to the EPRDF rule and (2) mobilising the private sector as part of the ruling coalition's developmental state programme. However, these twin objectives, were, in several cases, perceived as mutually exclusive by the EPRDF which, at times, led to a focus on control at the expense of developmental objectives. The ensuing lack of embeddedness posed problems for the operationalisation of the developmental state policies, reducing the EPRDF's ability to institutionalise collaborative relationships with the private sector.

Legal Instrumentalism: Critical Analysis of the Ethiopian Constitution

The Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front which overthrew the Socialist regime of Ethiopia played a leading role in drafting the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, in 1995. This Constitution has followed ethnic federalism for the division of political power among ethnic groups. The principle used for the division of power has been alleged as an insulation of political interest in the Constitution which has led the country into conflicts and chaotic situation instead of maintaining unity and peace which might be expected from the normal purpose of law. This raises a concern whether the Constitution is an instrumental to protect group interest of the ruling elites or not. The objective of this essay is to examine whether the Constitution has been instrumental to protect the ideological interest of few groups contrary to the public. In this regard, it analyzes the founding theory of legal instrumentalism; i.e. whether the traditional positivist school conception of law goes in line with the grand purpose of law. For this purpose, the work examines the sufficiency or insufficiency of ‘command doctrine’ of the positivist school. Consequently, the work is limited to theoretical exposition of legal instrumentalism at higher level focusing on the Constitution. Legal instrumentalism here refers to using law as a means for politically driven interest contrary to public. Issues that have been raised and treated are: - How law is different from politics? Shall a law serve to an instrument of domination? Shall it reflect the will of society or will of the ruling class? Having analyzed and other related matters, a conclusion has been reached on the instrumentality of Constitution in the sense that the division of power based on the principle of ethnicity which led the country into conflicts and chaotic situation. In this regard, the Constitution has caused division and conflict in the political community of the country instead of peace, unity and harmony; inequality and discrimination instead of fairness and justice; arbitrary assignment of power instead of following principles and standards; and closure of doors for remedies instead of providing settling controversies and conflicts. The basic question is why it promotes differences instead of unity in the country? The answer is quite clear and simple. The ruling elites deliberately rendered the country divided so that in the absence of unity they satisfied their unlimited greed for power and material interest. In this regard, corruption is rampant in Ethiopia in the absence of check and balance due to inefficient institutions. Monopolization of power by a single party for twenty-eight years is another example that shows unlimited greed for power by wining hundred percent parliamentary seats in 2015 election.

Fault Lines within the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF): Intraparty Network and Governance system

Ethiopia People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRD) is a political party in charge of government power since 1991. EPRDF is established in 1989 out of Rebel group to party transformation with the view to oust the military government called Derg. It is a coalition of four parties political organization i.e. Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF)- which is an architect of EPRDF, Amhara National Democratic Movements (ANDM) in 1980, Oromo People Liberation Organization (OPDO ) and Southern Ethiopian People Democratic Movement ( SEPDM) However, in spite of the nominally coalition structure of the EPRDF, from the beginning the TPLF provided the leadership and ideological direction to other members of the coalition. To maintain the dominant position within the coalition the TPLF has transferred its rebel time internal governance network that focuses on traditional Marxist Leninist organizational lines, with an emphasis on “democratic centralism”; and a tradition of hierarchically organizational structure to the newly established political organization i.e. EPRDF. Consequently, the EPRDF intraparty network and governance system is dominated by the use of ML (Marxist-Leninist) authoritarian methods and hegemonic control, rigid hierarchical leadership; Democratic centralism, the dominance of the party apparatus behind the façade of regional and local autonomy, an extensive patron-client mechanisms; the use of force to silence opposition within and outside the party; intertwined State institutions and the party system and excessive reliance on party entity instead of state administration units; and gim gema (self-evaluation) are worth mentioning. These intraparty network and governance system have severely limited genuine democratization within the party as well as hampered the democratization process in the country. The party is facing increasing pressure and challenge from within the party and the public at large demanding equal status and fair political economic representation. In effect, EPRDF is in deep crisis shattered by internal divisions, crises as well as external public pressure forcing the party to entertain democratic principles and culture. Hence, it is recommended that the organizational structure and the values and principles governing the organization should be revisited within the framework of democracy which allows adaptability and flexibility given the various change agents in the socio-cultural, economic, political environment.

A Shift of Political Discourse: Critical Discourse Analysis of Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed’s Inaugural Speech

This paper explains the political discourse shifts made by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahemed’s April, 2, 2018 inaugural speech. P.M. Abiy`s inaugural speech is the text for this study analysis to extract the political and ideological discourse shifts observed in his speech. Mainly the analysis is done qualitatively through explaining a few excerpts of the inaugural speech. To substantiate the qualitative analysis, key word quantitative analysis is also applied. The analysis results show that Prime Minister Abiy made significant shifts of political discourse from his predecessors and Tigray People Liberation Front lead Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (TPLF/EPRDF). The discourse shifts are observed in representing Ethiopian history, defining identity, and interpretation of pluralism in Ethiopia. For instance, P.M. Abiy portrays Ethiopia as a country of citizens whose identity is inseparable where as TPLF/EPRDF portrays Ethiopia as a country of nation nationalities whose identity is the sum total of different identities; the P.M claims for “Ethiopia first” rhetoric where as TPLF/EPRDF claims for “my ethnic first” rhetoric; P.M. Abiy aspires for a country of ideas but, TPLF/EPRDF has worked for a country of identities.

Assessment of Factors That Affect the Performance of Agricultural Production, in the Case of Amhara Region, Ethiopia

The agricultural sector is the basis of livelihood for a large proportion of society in Ethiopia. In the three political regimes in modern Ethiopia, the Imperial, the military and the Ethiopian people revolutionary democratic front (EPRDF), agriculture has been regarded as a critical sector. The Agricultural Development Led Industrialization (ADLI) is the national policy of the country. Regardless of the government policy attention and investment, there is a long way to go for smallholders to ensure food self-sufficiency. Agriculture is the base of our food, transformation to industrialization, climatic change control system. Agriculture is the soul of our sovereignty for development as well as poverty reduction for individuals and country level. In Ethiopia, population density is high and has been increasing and agricultural land has been decreasing because of fragmenting or converting it into residential plots. To meet the domestic food requirements, use of improved production technologies developed by research is come out to be important. Therefore, the goal of this study was to analyze factors that affect the performance of agricultural products in Amahara region national state and to determine the highly significant input factors for producing high and qualified agricultural outputs. Data regarding total agricultural outputs and its input factors in study area of Amahara region from 2010 to 2018 was obtained from Amhara national state branch of the Ethiopian institute of agricultural sector. Correlation analyses were used to examine the strength of the relationship between each of the determinant factors with total agricultural output, while multiple regression analysis was employed to examine the simultaneous effects of several independent variables on the dependent variable, total agricultural outputs. These analyses were employed through the packages R and Stata to achieve the main objectives of the study. All of the independent variables were highly correlated with the total agricultural output. The overall regression model was highly significant (p-value < 0.01) with F = 45.532. The R-squared value implies that 93.8% percent of the changes in average total agricultural outputs are successfully explained by the variables used in the model of this study. If we take model size into account, 91.8% percent of the variation in average total agricultural output was explained by the values of the independent variables. Specifically, among the independent variables irrigated land, fertilizer, improved seed and pesticides are the most significant factors for total products (p-value < 0.05).