Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T14:15:19.794Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Representative Institutions in Ethiopia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Extract

Representative institutions are a feature of political systems everywhere. The political systems of the new states that have emerged since World War II are no exception. Despite the far-reaching changes made by them in the institutions bequeathed by their colonial masters, they have almost everywhere retained, albeit with significant modifications, the representative assembly.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Page 193 note 1 The case of Morocco is only partially analogous, for there the authority deriving from traditional sources of legitimacy has been compromised, and the monarchy must manipulate modern political parties in an effort to retain its supremacy.

Page 194 note 1 Parsons, Talcott (ed.), Max Weber: The Theory of Social and Economic Organization (New York, 1964), pp. 328 and 341.Google Scholar

Page 194 note 2 It should be noted here that the historical perspective is focused mainly on the tradition of the Christian peoples of the central and northern part of Ethiopia historically known as Abyssinians, since it is the political forms and tradition of this dominant group that have emerged as the Ethiopian system, through the conquest, incorporation, and integration of several other groups.

Page 194 note 3 The Ethiopian monarchy, particularly during the long reign of the present monarch, has been quite successful in transforming itself into a national Ethiopian institution. Its role as the symbol and guarantee of national cohesion is as important now as ever, if not more so. A keen observer of Ethiopian behaviour during the Italian invasion noted that ‘the Emperor is a centre towards which all Ethiopians unconsciously direct themselves.’ Quoted by Steer, G. L., Caesar in Abyssinia (London, 1936), p. 304.Google Scholar

Page 195 note 1 In the early seventeenth century, the Emperor Za Dengel, who yielded to Jesuit persuasion and was converted to Catholicism, was excommunicated and subsequently slain in battle. His successor, Susneyos, followed a similar course, and the ensuing rebellion among his subjects forced him to abdicate in favour of his son, Fasiladas. The latter put an end to Jesuit influence in Ethiopia. More recently, the Emperor Lij Yasu was excommunicated and deposed in 1916 as a result of his courtship of Muslim groups and his suspected apostasy.

Page 197 note 1 Emperor Menelik opened the Menelik School in 1908, Emperor Haile Selassie opened the Tafarj Makonnen School in 1929, and Empress Menen opened a girls' school in 1931. Some mission schools were already functioning at this time, while traditional education in church schools has been continuous throughout Ethiopian history. The early process of educating young Ethiopians abroad was closely controlled by the traditional authority. All who returned were provided with relatively attractive employment in the state administration.

Page 198 note 1 The law establishing the Civil Service Commission was proclaimed in 1961.

Page 198 note 2 The 1955 revised Constitution, the assumption of the chairmanship of the Council of Ministers by the Prime Minister, and the recent order redefining the powers of Ministers, which gave the Prime Minister the power to nominate his Cabinet members, marked the beginning of a trend towards decentralisation.

Page 199 note 1 He had been Regent since 1916, while Empress Zauditu was alive.

Page 200 note 1 A Council of Ministers was originally introduced by Emperor Menelik in 1907.

Page 200 note 2 On this point see Levine, D. N., Wax and Gold (Chicago, 1965), pp. 150–5.Google Scholar

Page 200 note 3 In 1923 the Emperor secured Ethiopia's admission to the League of Nations. His tour of European capitals in 1924 was the first venture abroad by an Ethiopian monarch. In 1928 Ethiopia became one of the signatories of the Kellogg Pact.

Page 201 note 1 The so-called ‘Age of Princes’, from 1769 to 1855, is an example.

Page 203 note 1 Statement by Fitawrari Tekle Hawariat in an interview with Ato Mengesha Gessesse of Haile Selassie I University in January 1963.

Page 203 note 2 It should be noted that the Constitution made no provision for the Senate, as a body, to communicate its advice to the Emperor. This was probably because the influential senators retained the privilege of personal access to the Emperor; and they certainly spent much more time at the palace, in the traditional pastime of waiting on the Emperor, than in the Senate.

Page 207 note 1 Ethiopia Observer (Addis Ababa), ii,2, 03 1958, pp. 90–1.Google Scholar

Page 208 note 1 All the election figures given in this section were provided by the headquarters office of the National Board of Elections in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia has never had a complete population census. The Board's estimates are compiled from diverse sources.

Page 208 note 2 Mariam, Mesfin W., ‘An Estimate of the Population of Ethiopia’, in Ethiopia Obersuer, V, 2, 1961, p. 137.Google Scholar

Page 208 note 3 Ibid.

Page 208 note 4 According to the figures of the National Board of Elections, registration in Addis Ababa has increased only slightly since 1957. It was 127,896 in 1957, and 128,206 m 1965. Moreover, the number of votes cast fell from 45,589 in 1957 to 32,211 in 1965. Addis Ababa had an estimated population of 500,000 in 1966.

Page 209 note 1 The required qualifications for candidates are minimal. The most serious are the ownership of property worth Eth.$iooo (c. £145) and the deposit of Eth.$250.

Page 209 note 2 The remarks concerning candidates and campaigning in this section are based on the responses to a questionnaire distributed by the authors to members of the present Chamber of Deputics, Approximately io per cent of the members responded.

Page 210 note 1 Most of the respondents calculated the time spent on campaigning at no more than a few days; three said they had spent no time at all, and one claimed to have been absent from the district during the entire period.

Page 210 note 2 Only three of the respondents claimed to have addressed public meetings.

Page 210 note 3 Very few of the respondents claimed to have discussed specific issues, such as land reform, economic development, etc.

Page 211 note 1 A familiar charge hurled against a young opponent is that he does not meet the minimum age requirement of 25. He is thus forced to prove his age, no easy task in Ethiopia, where records were not kept until recently.

Page 211 note 2 These figures are not surprising, in view of the low level of education in Ethiopia. In 1961–62, 85 per cent of the eligible age group attended primary school, and 1.3 per cent for the secondary level. Proposed Plan for the Development of Education in Ethiopia, submitted by the Board of Education Study Committee (Addis Ababa, 1961), p. 11.Google Scholar

Page 212 note 1 Constitution (1955), Articles 102 and 103.

Page 213 note 1 The only law known to have originated in Parliament is the Members of Parliament (Salaries) Proclamation of 1962.

Page 213 note 2 Speech of 2 November 1964, published in Ethiopia Observer, VIII, 4, 1965, p. 275.Google Scholar

Page 213 note 3 Ye Parliament Meshet (Addis Ababa, 1964).Google Scholar

Page 214 note 1 Four of our respondents said so. Many others said that what is needed is effective enforcement of existing legislation, rather than additional legislation. This implies the need for control over the executive.

Page 218 note 1 The question, ‘Do you personally feel that approval by Parliament is required to make legislation valid and acceptable to you ?’ was put to a group of 70 university students; 49 answered ‘Yes’ and 21 answered ‘No’. The question, ‘Who makes the law?’ was put to 150 children in the last year of primary school; 63 answered ‘Parliament’, 40 gave no answer, 34 gave irrelevant answers, and 13 named the Emperor. Correct answers were given in roughly the same proportion to questions concerning the length of each Parliament's term, and the date of the last election. For the information concerning primary school students we are indebted to Robert Grey of Yale University, who secured it in the course of a research project on the impact of education on national consciousness.