Exploring Consociational Features of the Ethiopian Federation: A constitutional-legal analysis

Abstract

Consociationalism is a political arrangement and ideology, gaining popularity, characterized by acute cultural, religious or linguistic diversity. Increasingly, federalism is also being conceived not only as an essential tool, but also an ideal means of managing diversity. Though federalism and Consociationalism are distinct as ideologies and also in practical application, they are usually assumed to overlap a great deal. The overlap gets more pronounced in the context where the federation in question is culture-based (multi-national or ethnic), and some authors go even to the extent of making the simultaneous adoption of these two systems a condition of success. The most salient feature of the current Ethiopian Federal System design is the adoption of national ethnic-based groups as building blocks of the federation, and this represents, without doubt, the recognition of the high diversity level in the nation. Even though federalism allows all for shared ruling and self regulation, Consociational mechanisms are said to be a supplement to the scheme that federalism offers in the context of multinational federations.