After a brief overview of major theoretical perspectives of federalism, the paper explores the relationships between democracy and ethnic based federalism, by examining Ethiopia’s experience. In the study on federalism, the overthrow of the military regime in 1991 marked the turning point and inaugurated a new phase that the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) called a novel practice. The paper aims to contribute to the knowledge about the relationship between federalism and democracy and how they have unfolded in Ethiopia’s federal arrangement. In the writing of this paper, I largely depend on secondary sources and legal documents from Ethiopia and different countries.
With the failure of the centralized state, a federal political system has been used as an alternative to democratic transition in multi-ethnic states to bring about economic, social and political changes through power sharing and regional autonomy. Hence, this paper critically examines the interplay between federalization and democratization in multi-ethnic country-Ethiopia. Similarly, the paper argues that ethnic based federalism enhance democratization process by encouraging the different ethnic groups to live together peacefully. Moreover, the paper discusses the rationale behind Ethiopia’s decision to choose ethnic based federalism as a tool for democratization process by taking some key junctures. The result of the study reveals that the federal system structure increases the possibilities for regional autonomy, power decentralization, economic and political equality hence strengthen popular democracy.
Key Words:
Democracy, Ethnic Federalism, Decentralization, Multi-Ethnic