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How Has The Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front Changed Ethiopia's Political System?

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Since its arrival to power in 1990 by ousting the former military government, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has fundamentally reformed Ethiopia’s political system in many ways. The regime's radical transformed the highly centralized unitary state into a Federation of nationalities that redefined citizenship, politics and identity on ethnic grounds. The intent was to correct past wrongdoings and create a democratic and just society.
In order to rebuild from centuries of ethnic based discrimination, the new government led by a coalition of former insurgent movements took an ideological approach to federalism based on ethnic units defined largely by language and common ancestry. As Melese Zenawi, the leader of EPRDF and prime minister of the country (1991 -2012) once attested, “previous regimes centralized approaches and lack of recognition to ethnic identities has led to elitism, despotism, authoritarianism, and the sacrifice of ethnicity on the altar of transcendent …show more content…

There are few countries with a history as vast and controversial as Ethiopia. While Ethiopia is an ancient country and the only African country to resist and remain independent from European colonization, it emerged with its present territorial boundary and ethnic makeup during the second half of the nineteenth century after a massive southward expansion of the Norther Abyssinian Empire (Jalata 1993). With no shared history of statehood, its people are fragmented into dozens of often mutually antagonistic ethnic kingdoms and tribes. A History of Modem Ethiopia is essentially an account of the construction of a unitary and modern state during the span of a hundred years, roughly between 1855 and 1955, under the auspices of four successive monarchs and in the face of domestic resistance and foreign aggression (Zewde,

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DBQ: Famine in Ethiopia: How did the government make it worse? (hook)From 1983-1985, a famine in Ethiopia caused millions to die. In 1984, grain prices increased by 300% and five Ethiopian provinces set all-time lows for rainfall. Many people, blamed the famine on the drought, but later figured out that the real cause was politics. Soviet-backed communist Derg took over and worsened the famine.

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To be able to hold their own, Ethiopia purchased a formidable combination of weapons from France and Russia. According to the Ethiopian textbook, Ethiopians also expressed incredible courage and patriotism in their fight against the Italians. With these two things going for them, the Ethiopians successfully drove out the Italians and became one of only two African nations to resist

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Imperialism has been around for many years. Throughout history, countries have extended their rule and government to other countries. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, imperialism became an important issue in many countries in Africa. These imperialistic movements in Africa and other locations have had varying effects, some with positive repercussions, while other effects ended negatively. An example of mostly negative imperialism is shown in Egypt’s long history of colonization.

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Africa desired in remaining a free and independent nation, as individuals believed that Ethiopia was protected by God. For example, Menelik II, the emperor of Ethiopia, who wrote a letter to Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia in 1891, stated, “I do not think for a moment that He will divide Ethiopia among the distant Powers… Without our use of force and without the aid of the Christians, our boundary on the sea fell into the hands of the Muslims.” (Document 3). Here, one is able to identify that Menelik is demonstrating to the other foreign nations, that he will not enable them to continuously conquer portions of Africa, without taking further actions as they possess the support of God.

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The use of indoctrination and the suppression of certain words demonstrate the leaders' attempts to control the minds of their citizens and to erase the idea of individualism from their

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Katherine DeLong Professor Lampley RSOC 184 December 10, 2015 Final Project During this quarter, we have discussed in depth the interwoven nature of race, nation, and religion. These three concepts have proven to be deeply intertwined, to the point of inextricability. In order to discuss one of the three categories, one must simultaneously consider the repercussions of the other two. This concept has become clearer throughout the course, and it has taught me a lot about how these facets interact.

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As Frantz Facon once stated that “imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land by from our minds as well”, one can assert without much exertion that such European powers, in the course of Imperialism, indeed, brought about an array of irreversible impairments such as ethnic tensions, slavery, increased local warfare, and many others. Rwanda, for instance, is a country that is rife with the presence of such an irretrievable deficiency. Rwanda, indeed, has shown a startling economic growth and become an emergent leader country in Central Africa. The World Bank has recently eulogized Rwanda’s recent remarkable development success, which it

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Power, and the way it is distributed, has changed over the years. The democratic system seen today in most 1st world countries which embodies the motif of the common man having power over his own destiny is a stark contrast to the despotisms, empires, and monarchies of the past. The greatest upheaval of this old system happened in the waning years of the 18th century, with the French peasantry throwing off their heavy yokes burdened upon them by their greedy and unqualified royal masters and becoming the masters of their own destiny (by appointing for themselves an emperor instead of a king). What happened in those years long past still echoes today as the model method for overthrowing oppression and taking ownership of one’s own destiny from the selfish clutches that they first had been stricken to.

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“Ideology is a specious way of relating to the world. It offers human beings the illusion of an identity, of dignity, and of morality while making it easier for them to part with them… It is a veil behind which human beings can hide their own ‘fallen existence’, their trivialization, and their adaptation to the status quo.” The ideology and its slogans are meant to be not only the signs if the regime but also its assurance to unite people in one order and keep them in this way. The metaphysical order ensures the system to exists in a

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