Party Politics, Political Polarization and the Future of Ethiopian Democracy

A closer glance at the source of what appears to be a curse of history can be explained largely by the political polarization and fragmentation between and among Ethiopian political parties, which time and again failed to set a common agenda and mobilize millions for a common good

The Elite and the Quest for Peace, Democracy and Development in Ethiopian: Lessons to be learnt

The present experiment involves the objective of accomplishing two historical tasks: the tasks of creating a country that houses \u27nations, nationalities and peoples\u27 of equals and ending an authoritarian rule by democratizing the Ethiopian state and society as a whole, a precondition for peace and development. However, as the result of the accumulated five grand failures of the Ethiopian elite in a century, the prennial quest for peace, democracy and development continue to be as illusive as ever. The most fundamental question is, therefore, what lessons to be learnt to move forward? This paper, which sums up the political history of modern Ethiopia in terms of five grand failures is a modest attempt to do that job

The State, Competing Ethnic Nationalisms and Democratisation in Ethiopia

No Abstract Available Afr. j. polit. sci. Vol.9(1) 2004: 27-5

Ethiopia: Reforming land tenure

Land policy in Ethiopia has been controversial since the fall of the military socialist derg regime in 1991. While the current Ethiopian government has implemented a land policy that is based on state ownership of land (where only usufruct rights are given to land holders), many agricultural economists and international donor agencies have propagated some form of privatized land ownership. This article traces the antagonistic arguments of the two schools of thought in the land reform debate and how their antagonistic principles - fairness vs. efficiency - are played out. It then goes on to explore how these different arguments have trickled down in the formulation of the federal and regional land policies with a particular view on the new Oromia regional land policy as it is considered the most progressive (with regards to tenure security). We provide some empirical material on ongoing practices of implementing the Rural Land Use and Administration Proclamation of Oromia Region. Our analysis suggests that while the laws are conceptual hybrids that accommodate both fairness and efficiency considerations, regional bureaucrats have selectively implemented those elements of the proclamation that are considered to strengthen the regime's political support in the countryside

Trayectorias del Sur: Desplazamientos y conformaciones de las naciones diversas de Ecuador y Etiopía

Este artículo se centra en un análisis comparativo de las distintas políticas de gestión de la diversidad nacional de los Estados de Ecuador y Etiopía. Se argumenta que dichas políticas han sido configuradas en gran medida por la influencia de diálogos internacionales en torno a las diversas desigualdades, la conceptualización de lo indígena y lo étnico, y acerca de la coexistencia nacional entre grupos históricamente jerarquizados en estructuras políticas y sociales de poder. Puesto que las discusiones y debates sobre la institucionalización de la nación diversaestán insertas en problemáticas políticas y disputas ideológicas, es necesario conocer los regímenes de saber en los que se produce esta institucionalización. En el caso de Ecuador, el proyecto político de laplurinacionalidad se gestó a partir de debates intelectuales en el seno del marxismo, especialmente en torno a la relación entre raza y clase. A esta aportación inicial vendrían a sumarse las generadas en encuentros regionales en los que se definieron reivindicaciones relativas a los derechos de los pueblos y naciones indígenas. En el caso de Etiopía, sería la incorporación de teorías y estrategias nacidas de la lucha anti-colonial en África y Asia las que marcarían el discurrir del tipo específico de gestión de la diversidad nacional, encaminándose finalmente hacia la constitución de unafederación étnica. De una primigenia unión interétnica anti-imperial, en el contexto del régimen militar-autoritario delDerg y ante la creciente importancia de la migración en la política etíope, mutaría hacia el polo opuesto, favoreciendo y reforzando la división étnica