Edited by David Turton
“Three primary assumptions guided the contributors. First, given its multi-ethnic character, there was agreement that there is no alternative to some form of federal system for Ethiopia. Second, given the relative lack of internal, ethnically based violence since the introduction of the federal system, it was generally agreed by the authors that the experiment until now has been largely successful in ameliorating ethnic tensions. Finally, the contributors agreed that when measured against the requirements of federalism in practice as opposed to federalism in theory, Ethiopia still has a long way to go.”
International Journal of African Historical Studies
Since 1991, Ethiopia has gone further than any other country in using ethnicity as the fundamental organizing principle of a federal system of government. And yet this pioneering experiment in “ethnic federalism” has been largely ignored in the growing literature on democratization and ethnicity in Africa and on the accommodation of ethnic diversity in democratic states. Ethnic Federalism brings a much-needed comparative dimension to the discussion of this experiment in Ethiopia.
Ethnic Federalism closely examines aspects of the Ethiopean case and asks why the use of territorial decentralism to accommodate ethnic differences has been generally unpopular in Africa, while it is growing in popularity in the West.
The book includes case studies of Nigerian and Indian federalism and suggests how Ethiopia might learn from both the failures and successes of these older federations. In the light of these broader issues and cases, it identifies the main challenges facing Ethiopia in the next few years, as it struggles to bring political practice into line with constitutional theory and thereby achieve a genuinely federal division of powers.
David Turton is a senior associate of Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, where he was formerly Reader in Forced Migration and Director of the Refugees Studies Centre. More info →
Retail price:
$29.95 ·
Save 20% ($23.96)
Retail price:
$80.00 ·
Save 20% ($64)
US and Canada only
Share 
Permission to reprint
Permission
to photocopy or include in a course pack
via Copyright Clearance
Center
Click or tap on a subject heading to sign up to be notified when new related books come out.
Paperback
978-0-8214-1697-6
Retail price: $29.95,
S.
Release date: July 2006
320 pages
·
6 × 9 in.
Rights: World (exclusive in Americas, and Philippines) except British Commonwealth, Continental Europe, and United Kingdom
Hardcover
978-0-8214-1696-9
Retail price: $80.00,
S.
Release date: July 2006
320 pages
·
6 × 9 in.
Rights: World (exclusive in Americas, and Philippines) except British Commonwealth, Continental Europe, and United Kingdom
South Africa’s Environmental History
Cases and Comparisons
Edited by Stephen Dovers, Ruth Edgecombe, and Bill Guest
Environmental history in southern Africa has only recently come into its own as a distinct field of historical inquiry. While natural resources lie at the heart of all environmental history, the field opens the door to a wide range of inquiries, several of which are pioneered in this collection.South Africa’s Environmental History offers a series of local and particular studies followed by more general commentary and comparative studies.The
Environmental Policy · African History · History | Historical Geography · History · African Studies
Property Rights & Political Development in Ethiopia & Eritrea
By Sandra Joireman
This book looks at the microfoundations of poverty in the developing world and in particular those present in property rights. The local institutions that govern land access are fundamental in affecting the distribution of wealth in a society. Property rights matter because they affect political development and economic growth. Development economists and policy makers often work on the assumption that property rights evolve from collective to more specified systems.
Public Policy · African History · Eritrea · Ethiopia · African Studies
Ethnicity and Democracy in Africa
Edited by Bruce Berman, Dickson Eyoh, and Will Kymlicka
The politics of identity and ethnicity will remain a fundamental characteristic of African modernity. For this reason, historians and anthropologists have joined political scientists in a discussion about the ways in which democracy can develop in multicultural societies.
Political Science, Africa · African History · Race and Ethnicity · Africa · African Studies
South Africa’s Suspended Revolution
Hopes and Prospects
By Adam Habib
South Africa’s Suspended Revolution tells the story of South Africa’s democratic transition and the prospects for the country to develop a truly inclusive political system. Beginning with an account of the transition in the leadership of the African National Congress from Thabo Mbeki to Jacob Zuma, the book then broadens its lens to examine the relationship of South Africa’s political elite to its citizens.
Sign up to be notified when new African Studies titles come out.
We will only use your email address to notify you of new titles in the subject area(s) you follow. We will never share your information with third parties.
