https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5799-813X
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ABSTRACT
What determines the success of federal arrangements? Federal arrangements are often introduced in contexts that lack multi-party democracy and instead are characterized by centralization and limited competition in the context of a dominant party system. This uneasy combination of regional autonomy on the one hand and centralization on the other alters federal dynamics significantly, most visibly in different modes of access to political power, procedures of political representation and consultation, and rules underlying political decision-making. The Ethiopian federal system serves as an empirical illustration for how intra-party politics takes precedence over federal institutions. Most importantly, original interview data collected during fieldwork suggests that the prevalence of party structures and procedures rather than formal federal institutions results in a system that provides relative stability, however, interferes with regional autonomy. The findings underline the broader relevance of extra-constitutional factors for comparative analyses of the workings and success of federal systems.
Acknowledgements
The author appreciates the excellent suggestions by the editor and three anonymous reviewers. The author would like to thank Daniel Bochsler, Peter Thisted Dinesen and the members of the Research Cluster ‘States, Diversity and Collective Identities’ at IBEI, Barcelona, for valuable advice and comments on earlier drafts. Finally, the author is grateful for the insights provided by the interviewees in Ethiopia.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The data collection was conducted with informed consent of participants. In line with conditions for ethics approval and due to the sensitive nature of the research topic, names of the interviewees are not provided.
2 Interview 4 (academic, Addis Ababa University, August 17, 2018).
3 Interview 1 (academic, Addis Ababa University, August 14, 2018).
4 See the ICG report (Citation2019) for an excellent and detailed overview.
5 It is essential to note that one of the key ways in which the EPRDF seeks to derive legitimacy is by reducing poverty through state-directed development, see Arriola and Lyons (Citation2016), Vaughan (Citation2011), Fiseha (Citation2018).
6 Interview 2 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 15, 2018).
7 Interview 1 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 14, 2018).
8 Interview 9 (regional official, Hawassa, August 28, 2018).
9 Interview 13 (former Member of the House of Peoples’ Representatives, Addis Ababa, August 29, 2018).
10 Interview 2 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 15, 2018).
11 Interview 5 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 17, 2018).
12 Interview 4 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 7, 2018).
13 Interview 1 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 14, 2018).
14 Interview 4 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 17, 2018).
15 Interview 5 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 17, 2018).
16 Interview 5 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 17, 2018). Also confirmed in Interview 4 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 17, 2018).
17 Interview 5 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 17, 2018).
18 Interview 13 (former Member of the House of Peoples’ Representatives, Addis Ababa, August 29, 2018).
19 For more in this particular issue, see Fiseha (Citation2006).
20 Interview 9 (Regional official, Hawassa, August 28, 2018).
21 Interview 9 (Regional official, Hawassa, August 28, 2018); Interview 10 (Regional politician, Hawassa, August 28, 2018).
22 Most prominently in the Interview 8 (former Member of the House of Federation, Addis Ababa, August 22, 2018) and Interview 1 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 14, 2018).
23 Interview 8 (former Member of the House of Federation, Addis Ababa, August 22, 2018).
24 Interview 5 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 17, 2018).
25 Interview 12 (former Member of the House of Federation, Addis Ababa, August 29, 2018).
26 Interview 2 (academic, Addis Ababa, August 15, 2018).
27 Interview 8 (former Member of the House of Federation, Addis Ababa, August 22, 2018). Reference to ‘lost unity’ also in Interview 12 (former Member of the House of Federation, Addis Ababa, August 29, 2018) and Interview 9 (Regional official, Hawassa, August 28, 2018).