Bulletin n. 1/2013
June 2013
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
  • Van der Beken Christophe
    Federalism in a Context of Extreme Ethnic Pluralism: The Case of Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region
    in Verfassung und Recht in Ubersee , Heft 1, 2013 ,  2013
    ABSTRACT: Today, federalism is increasingly suggested and applied as a political/constitutional mechanism to accommodate ethnic pluralism. Used for this purpose, federalism is a device that allows the protection of the rights of ethnic minorities, which in turn promotes societal stability and prevents state disintegration. These two objectives – protection of ethnic minorities and guaranteeing state unity – were the major factors inducing the introduction and development of federalism in Ethiopia since the early 1990 s. The Ethiopian constitution of 1995 constitutes the legal foundation for a multicultural or ethnic federation which is composed of nine ethnic-based regional states or regions. Yet, the presence of more than 80 ethnic groups in Ethiopia has led to the fact that only a few ethnic groups have been empowered by the establishment of these regions; most ethnic groups are still a minority at regional level. This lack of overlap between regional and ethnic boundaries is most dramatically exemplified by the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region. Far from empowering one specific ethnic group, this region is extremely multi-ethnic with dozens of ethnic minorities. The paper aims to investigate how this intra-regional ethnic pluralism is taken care of by the regional state authorities by analysing the pertinent provisions of the regional constitution and their practical operation. The analysis reveals that the regional constitution has included and designed several minority-sensitive provisions and mechanisms, which are modelled upon the provisions and devices included in the federal constitution and which are therefore strongly reminiscent of the basic features of federations. The paper evaluates these mechanisms along the lines of what is the core objective of federalism: the achievement of unity in diversity. By doing so it observes that although the regional constitution has generally found an adequate balance between both potentially conflicting aims, a number of constitutional revisions to clarify administrative interrelationships and to offer a more comprehensive minority protection are in order. The paper furthermore identifies what seems to be an increasing gap between constitutional provisions emphasising territorial autonomy and a prevalent political attitude focusing on unity and concomitant administrative integration.
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