The Impacts of the Developmental State Model on Democratic Federalism in Ethiopia: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Ethiopia’s experiment with the developmental state model (DSM) has been widely contested on the grounds of its viability within the country’s “democratic” federal system. This study examines the impact of the DSM on democratic federalism in Ethiopia, specifically on multiparty democracy and multilevel development governance. The study employs a retrospective research design combined with a qualitative research approach. Research participants were purposively selected. Data were collected using key interviews, focus group discussions, and document review. The findings show that Ethiopia’s experiment with the DSM has been characterised largely by centralised and authoritarian governance of development, especially after 2005 national election when the government began taking measures to establish developmentalism as a hegemonic ideology. The measures include the enactment of various restrictive laws (on press and media, the electoral system, civil society, and anti-terrorism). The result was de facto one-party rule that contributed not only to shrinking democratic space but also to undermining multilevel development governance. The state's top-down, exclusionary and coercive approach to development governance was evident, for instance, in the Integrated Master Plan for Addis Ababa City and the surrounding areas of the Oromia region, as well as in large-scale farming and industrial parks development projects which encroached on the prerogatives of regional states. Consequently, Ethiopia’s experiment with the DSM has significantly undermined both multiparty democracy and the federal system