| Abstract: | Although the Ethiopian federal dispensation legitimizes political participation
based on ethnic identity, the arrangement, both through design and political
practice, has led to the skewed representation of ethnic groups. The article
examines these challenges and argues that in addition to the existing electoral
system, difficulties pertaining to the holding of free and fair elections, ethnic
voting, the role of political parties and majoritarian decision-making
procedures have severely undermined the effective political participation of
ethnic communities. Moreover, the manner in which electoral constituencies
are formed largely benefit the politically and numerically dominant ethnic
group thereby undermining the representation of ethnic minorities. Yet, in
some cases, notwithstanding the existence of ethnic groups with numerical
ascendancy within an electoral constituency, the political practice ensures that
a „favored‟ ethnic group, despite being a numerical minority, is made the
political majority. In the veil of these obstacles, it is contended that a mere
change in the electoral system alone, without due consideration to the
aforementioned factors, cannot bring a full-fledged solution to the underlying
problems the political system is facing. |
