Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia

Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15

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Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia

Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 4)

Received: 28 June 2015 Accepted: 21 July 2015 Published: 6 August 2015

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Abstract

Being one of the most diverse nations in the world, Ethiopia is not an exception to be free from ethnic conflicts due to its weak political structures and mal governance. The existing ethnic federal arrangement of EPRDF is devised with the aim to accommodate the interests of distinct ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, it is still subject to criticisms. Hence, this study questions whether the contemporary ethnic federalism in Ethiopia enables to manage ethnic conflicts or exacerbates them due to its theoretical and empirical applicability. The study is entirely based on secondary sources of data that were interpreted using a mix of interpretivism and constructivism to guide the qualitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that ethnic federal model of Ethiopia, which solely or majorly formed on the basis of ethno-linguistic lines in most, but not all situations exacerbate and/or generate and transform ethnic conflicts from national into lower structural levels. Thus, a mixed federal system that guarantees ethnic groups self-governance with high inducements for integration and inter-ethnic collaboration is a suggestive solution to move federalism forward in Ethiopia.

Published in	Social Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15
Page(s)	94-105
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ethnic Federalism, Ethnic Conflicts, Ethiopia, Triggering Factors, Management

References

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APA Style

Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu. (2015). Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia. Social Sciences, 4(4), 94-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15

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Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu. Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia. Soc. Sci. 2015, 4(4), 94-105. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15

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AMA Style

Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu. Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia. Soc Sci. 2015;4(4):94-105. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15,
  author = {Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu},
  title = {Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {4},
  number = {4},
  pages = {94-105},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20150404.15},
  abstract = {Being one of the most diverse nations in the world, Ethiopia is not an exception to be free from ethnic conflicts due to its weak political structures and mal governance. The existing ethnic federal arrangement of EPRDF is devised with the aim to accommodate the interests of distinct ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, it is still subject to criticisms. Hence, this study questions whether the contemporary ethnic federalism in Ethiopia enables to manage ethnic conflicts or exacerbates them due to its theoretical and empirical applicability. The study is entirely based on secondary sources of data that were interpreted using a mix of interpretivism and constructivism to guide the qualitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that ethnic federal model of Ethiopia, which solely or majorly formed on the basis of ethno-linguistic lines in most, but not all situations exacerbate and/or generate and transform ethnic conflicts from national into lower structural levels. Thus, a mixed federal system that guarantees ethnic groups self-governance with high inducements for integration and inter-ethnic collaboration is a suggestive solution to move federalism forward in Ethiopia.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia
AU  - Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu
Y1  - 2015/08/06
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15
T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
SP  - 94
EP  - 105
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15
AB  - Being one of the most diverse nations in the world, Ethiopia is not an exception to be free from ethnic conflicts due to its weak political structures and mal governance. The existing ethnic federal arrangement of EPRDF is devised with the aim to accommodate the interests of distinct ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, it is still subject to criticisms. Hence, this study questions whether the contemporary ethnic federalism in Ethiopia enables to manage ethnic conflicts or exacerbates them due to its theoretical and empirical applicability. The study is entirely based on secondary sources of data that were interpreted using a mix of interpretivism and constructivism to guide the qualitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that ethnic federal model of Ethiopia, which solely or majorly formed on the basis of ethno-linguistic lines in most, but not all situations exacerbate and/or generate and transform ethnic conflicts from national into lower structural levels. Thus, a mixed federal system that guarantees ethnic groups self-governance with high inducements for integration and inter-ethnic collaboration is a suggestive solution to move federalism forward in Ethiopia.
VL  - 4
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu

Department of Cooperatives, College of Business and Economics, Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan-Teferi, Ethiopia

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Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu. (2015). Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia. Social Sciences, 4(4), 94-105. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15

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ACS Style

Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu. Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia. Soc. Sci. 2015, 4(4), 94-105. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15

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AMA Style

Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu. Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia. Soc Sci. 2015;4(4):94-105. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15,
  author = {Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu},
  title = {Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {4},
  number = {4},
  pages = {94-105},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20150404.15},
  abstract = {Being one of the most diverse nations in the world, Ethiopia is not an exception to be free from ethnic conflicts due to its weak political structures and mal governance. The existing ethnic federal arrangement of EPRDF is devised with the aim to accommodate the interests of distinct ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, it is still subject to criticisms. Hence, this study questions whether the contemporary ethnic federalism in Ethiopia enables to manage ethnic conflicts or exacerbates them due to its theoretical and empirical applicability. The study is entirely based on secondary sources of data that were interpreted using a mix of interpretivism and constructivism to guide the qualitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that ethnic federal model of Ethiopia, which solely or majorly formed on the basis of ethno-linguistic lines in most, but not all situations exacerbate and/or generate and transform ethnic conflicts from national into lower structural levels. Thus, a mixed federal system that guarantees ethnic groups self-governance with high inducements for integration and inter-ethnic collaboration is a suggestive solution to move federalism forward in Ethiopia.},
 year = {2015}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Ethnic Federalism: A Means for Managing or a Triggering Factor for Ethnic Conflicts in Ethiopia
AU  - Muhabie Mekonnen Mengistu
Y1  - 2015/08/06
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15
DO  - 10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15
T2  - Social Sciences
JF  - Social Sciences
JO  - Social Sciences
SP  - 94
EP  - 105
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-988X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20150404.15
AB  - Being one of the most diverse nations in the world, Ethiopia is not an exception to be free from ethnic conflicts due to its weak political structures and mal governance. The existing ethnic federal arrangement of EPRDF is devised with the aim to accommodate the interests of distinct ethnic groups in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, it is still subject to criticisms. Hence, this study questions whether the contemporary ethnic federalism in Ethiopia enables to manage ethnic conflicts or exacerbates them due to its theoretical and empirical applicability. The study is entirely based on secondary sources of data that were interpreted using a mix of interpretivism and constructivism to guide the qualitative method of research. The findings of the study revealed that ethnic federal model of Ethiopia, which solely or majorly formed on the basis of ethno-linguistic lines in most, but not all situations exacerbate and/or generate and transform ethnic conflicts from national into lower structural levels. Thus, a mixed federal system that guarantees ethnic groups self-governance with high inducements for integration and inter-ethnic collaboration is a suggestive solution to move federalism forward in Ethiopia.
VL  - 4
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download