The Impact of Electoral System on Political Representation in Diversified Society: An appraisal of National Elections of Ethiopia

Abstract

Since 1991, Ethiopia has conducted political elections using plurality electoral system which is known as ‘first- past-the post’ system. The candidate or the party which gets the highest number of votes in each electoral district is declared a winner. In many literatures, the system is considered weak in promoting representation as most of the votes are discarded. This thesis tried to assess the impact of plurality electoral system on the representation of various ethnic and linguistic groups in the political sphere. It tried to answer why the ruling party repeatedly won national elections, why electoral reform is becoming a measure issue in newly emerged democracies and democratic countries and it tried to answer the link between the tendency of hegemony and electoral system. To answer these questions the research has employed various methods, from exhaustive reading of various literature up to conducting of interviews and data analysis to evaluate the impact of plurality system in political representation of diversified society such as Ethiopia. Finally, the research has concluded the plurality electoral system is not recommended in a country like Ethiopia where more than 80 ethnic and linguistic groups are living. In one hand, federalism is introduced to answer one of the popular questions linked with representation in Ethiopia and in the other hand implementing political election with exclusionary system i.e. plurality electoral systems are paradox. This research pointed out that, as the system excludes minorities from the political landscape, it cannot easily meat the representation of diversity interests. The finding of this research ascertain that plurality electoral system favors the incumbent government to win every election, had other electoral system been employed the outcome would be different. The need to reform the electoral system is undisputable to enhance representation of heterogeneous society, for minority representation, for conflict management, for alternative policy and to regulate the tendency of hegemony.