DEVELOPMENTAL STATE MODEL VIS-À-VIS MULTILEVEL GOVERNANCE: AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ETHIOPIAN EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Ethiopia’s experiment with the developmental state model (DSM) within its federal system has been widely contested on the grounds of its compatibility with the country’s constitutional democratic and federal system of governance. The study examines the state of
democratic federalism under the DSM, as once pursued by the now-defunct Ethiopian Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The study employs a qualitative research methodology anchored on a retrospective study approach where data is collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and desk review of a broad range of official government and party documents. The study argues that even though the model tends to favor centralized state structure and authoritarian governance system, these features, however, are not necessarily inherent features of the model, as the experiences of countries like India and South Africa demonstrate, which managed to build democratic developmental states under constitutionally decentralized state structures. The article argues that Ethiopia’s experiment with DSM had largely been characterized by centralized and authoritarian governance, especially after the 2005 national election, when EPRDF began taking a series of measures meant to establish developmentalism as a hegemonic ideology. The result was de facto one-party rule that contributed not only to shrinking democratic space but also to undermining multilevel governance. This has had far-reaching repercussions in shaping the course of politics in the country, eventually triggering a reshuffle within the country’s top leadership in 2018 and a profound shift in power balance and dynamics within the country’s current
political landscape.