Democratic Developmental State in Ethiopia: Experience From The Tigray National Regional State (2001-2019)
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2020-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study examines whether or not the political and policy practices in the Tigray National
Regional State essentially reflect the basic attributes of the democratic developmental state.
Field data were gathered through key-informant interview and focus group discussion. As the
findings of the study reveal that there are signs of good achievements in economic growth and
strengths in terms of state autonomy, political commitment of the leadership, and ideational
capacity, which enables the government penetrate deep into society to exercise political and
policy control. However, there are limitations in achieving structural transformation of the
economy, building capacity for effective policy implementation, and genuine commitment of the
government to strengthening democratic institutions, which are vital for representation and
empowerment of the people to effectively involve in the process of planning and implementing
development activities, as well as, ensuring accountability of the government. Low level of
agricultural transformation, backward institutions of support-provision and development
infrastructures, lack of strong public-private cooperation and the subsequent limited capacity of
the private business to invest in the manufacturing subsector, and absence of adequately trained
human power are the main factors limiting structural transformation in the economy. The low
level of effective policy implementation, in this regard, is largely associated with the deficiency
of the civil service system, which is expressed in terms of poor organization and lack of
implementing the reform-based capacity building programs, and inadequacy of strictly following
the merit principles (due to politicization) in the process of selection, recruitment, and placement
of civil servants. Democracy, which empowers the people to engage in policy and development
processes, is difficult to achieve in Tigray because the region’s government is not amenable to
multiparty politics, and the participatory institutions both at the regional and local levels are
nominal and more essentially loyal to the ruling party than the people whom they
constitutionally represent. These findings suggest that if the current practices continue in this
way, the aspiration of achieving the ideals of democratic developmental state in Tigray would
largely remain rhetoric. The findings of the study also imply the need for effective institutional
frameworks to build robust support provision structures, productive public-private cooperation,
and depoliticized or merit-based civil service system with the requisite capacity for effective
policy implementation. Moreover, as the findings of the study suggest that there is a need for
strengthening the institutions of democracy in order to enhance multiparty politics and allow the
people to broadly engage in the process of policy decisions, implementation of development
activities, and ensuring government accountability.
Description
Keywords
Democratic Developmental State in Ethiopia: Experience From The Tigray National Regional State