Systems & structure of Government in Ethiopia

There are three systems of government in the world.

Unitary / Unitary government.
 Practiced in most of the states in the world are unitary.
 all power is in the hands of the central government and has only one constitution.
 Can be autocratic, military dictatorships or democratic. For example, in Ethiopia during the reign of Emperor Haile
Selassie, was a unitary government with autocratic power. Autocracy means absolute rule by kings., Ethiopia had a unitary
government During the Derg with a military dictatorship. In contrast, the United Kingdom has a unitary system of
government which is democratic.
Unitary: A state in which there is only one layer of government, Great Britain is a unitary state.
Confederation/ Confederalism
 is the union of independent states.
 Allows the member states to retain their sovereignty and come under a common control for the performance of certain
definite/specific functions.
 is formed between independent countries, often for economic or military purposes.
 may lead to the formation of a federal state if members of the confederation integrate well. The European Union is a good
example of a confederation to which many countries belong. It seems to be going in the direction of creating a United
States of Europe.
Federal system of government
 power is shared between the federal and the regional states.
 Allows regional states the right to have their own constitutions and authority to manage the administration of their own
regions.
 Ethiopia is a federal state with nine regional states.

Concepts of Federalism
Federalism
 is a political relationships which emphasizes the combination of self-rule and shared rule within a matrix of constitutionally
dispersed powers
 is the principle of government in which the power of the government is shared by a national and state or regional
government(has a double set of governments).
 is based on the territorial autonomy of regional subunits, so as to create jurisdiction which are coordinate but independent .
 is a system of government where power is divided b/n federal and regional governments.
 used in a society composed of culturally heterogeneous groups to address the cultural differences
and promote their development
 coordinates the central & regional authorities so that they work together for a common goal.
 is a form of /system of political relationships in which neither level of government is wholly dependent on the other, nor
wholly independent of the other.
 promotes the division of power between Central (federal) and regional governments.
 allows both the federal (central) and regional governments in Ethiopia to a have specific areas of
authority.
 paves the way for a unity that arises from diversity. Unity in a multi-cultural setting can be nurtured
when you are able to appreciate diversity in a positive way.
 characterized by devolution, or delegation, or decentralization or transfer of power to the regions that constitute the
federation.
 Federation: A union of state formed by regional governments that has permanently functioning central organs of power
and administration and acts as a single subject of international law. Example - The USA, Canada, Nigeria and India are
also federal states.
Power
 means to be able to force others to do what the power holder wants.
 has to be limited/restricted
  can be grouped in two (1) unlimited power, (2) Limited power
Unlimited power/government
 Government with unlimited power
 Unelected government
 denied the people their freedom and exercises unrestricted power.
Example of government with unlimited power
 Absolute monarchy. Absolute rule means to have power with no limits
 the military dictatorship.
Limited power/ Government
 government with constitutionally limited/restricted power
 government that come in to power through democratic election
 possible when government officials are transparent and accountable for what they do and bear the consequences.
 only democratic governments have limited power
 describes a political system whereby the central government's role and authority is limited in certain respects, which is an
important component of political, social, and economic freedom.
 is one whose legalized force and power is restricted through delegated and enumerated authorities.
 a government which has fewer laws about what individuals and businesses can and cannot do.
 is a constitutionally limited government,
 is a government constitutionally bound to specific principles and actions.
In its truest, most basic form, a limited government is
 a body whose main function is the protection of people and their property, and it levies just enough taxes to finance services
related to these purposes, such as national defense or law enforcement.
A limited government
 can be defined as one that exercises only the specifically named powers that its constitution assigns to it
 a constitutionally limited government, bound to specific principles and actions by a state or federal constitution.
 characterized by a separation of powers and a system of checks and balances,
A Limited Government
 is one whose legalized force and power is restricted through delegated and enumerated authorities. Countries with limited
governments have fewer laws about what individuals and businesses can and cannot do. In many cases, such as the United
States, it is a constitutionally limited government, bound to specific principles and actions by a state or federal constitution.
Federalism as Limited Government
 One of the main elements of a limited government is federalism. In a federal system, specific powers are given to a centralized
government, while others are given to local governments – a system that creates additional checks and balances.
Anarchy
Anarchy is a situation where there is absence of authority (government) be it in national or international/global level
systems. Within a country ‘anarchy’ refers to a breakdown of law and order, but in relations between states it refers to
a system where power is decentralized and there are no shared institutions with the right to enforce common rules. An
anarchical world is a world where everyone looks after themselves and no one looks after the system as a whole.
Power: means to cause others to change their behavior and do what the power holder wants.
Autocracy: A type of government led by a single ruler.
Foreign relations
 could be defined as the external relations of a country.
 the relation between countries gives rise to international relations.
 is external relations with countries of the world.
 are conducted between independent countries, international and regional organizations.
 International and regional organizations include the United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU), the European Union
(EU), World Bank and others. Such relations promote mutual benefits.
 involves opening embassies and missions and appointing ambassadors & diplomats in other countries.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
 are the external relations of a country.
 are conducted between independent countries, international and regional organizations by trained
diplomats.
 are guided by foreign policy.
 Foreign relations are based on foreign policy.
FOREIGN POLICY.
 regulates a country’s relations with other states and peoples.
 A policy regulating a particular country’s relations with other states and peoples.
 regulates a country’s relations with other countries and organizations.
Ethiopian Diplomats are guided by the foreign policy objectives of the
country.
Ambassadors
 heads the diplomatic mission in the host country.
 are head of a country’s diplomatic mission in a host country.
Diplomatic relations
 established between / by Countries which have common interests
 Such a relation is carried out by persons called diplomats.
 could include economic, cultural, political and military relations.
 Carried out / implemented through diplomacy.
 Relations between independent states for the promotion of mutual
benefits.
Diplomacy
 refers to the practiced art of official representation abroad of sovereign states by persons and organizations specialized in
such conduct.
 One of the functions of diplomacy is to conduct negotiations.
 Negotiation is to talk with diplomats and government officials in order to settle an issue or disagreement and try to come up
with a solution. .

Diplomats
 Is an official in the Ministry of Foreign Relations or missions abroad.
 People/officials who work with people from many different countries and cultures and doing this requires skills and abilities
such as tolerance, communication and negotiation
 represent Ethiopia’s interests where they are placed. Have to know when to give information and when to say nothing.
 are trained to be able to negotiate with governments and people in other countries.
 are guided by the foreign policy objectives of the country.
 have to work with people from many different countries and cultures.
 often have to negotiate when situations are difficult between countries.
One of the functions of diplomacy is to conduct negotiations.
Diplomatic Mission/Embassy
 refers to a foreign body which is set up by mutual agreement of states to deal with foreign relations.
 could be for state to state relations and state’s relations with regional and international organizations.
 The objective of diplomatic mission is to maintain constant official contacts and to act on all political and other questions
arising from the interrelationship of states.
The purpose of foreign relation
 is to mutually advance and promote national interests of states. Ethiopia’s foreign relations are its
Ethiopia’s Foreign/Diplomatic Relations
 are guided by its foreign policy objectives as stated in the Constitution. One of the objectives of the foreign policy is to
promote peaceful co-existence and mutual economic development among African countries and also to work closely with
other countries of the world for the same purpose.
  Ethiopia’s foreign policy advances a closer relationship with African countries for peaceful co-existence and mutual economic
development.
Ethiopia has diplomatic relations with many countries such as
 Djibouti, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom (UK), Japan, China, Germany, etc.
Diplomatic relations of countries comprise different types of relations including
 Cultural diplomacy  Military diplomacy,  Security diplomacy
 Educational diplomacy,  Political diplomacy,  Economic relations.
Ethiopia
 currently promotes economic diplomacy more aggressively.
 the policy objective of the country is to attract more foreign investment for development.
 achieving development is the priority of the foreign policy objectives of the country.
Ethiopia has diplomatic missions to
 the UN, AU and EU.
The Ethiopian foreign policy objectives
 are the policy objectives stated in the 1995 Constitution such as protection of national interests and respect for the
sovereignty of the country, noninterference in the internal affairs of other states, observance of international agreements
and promotion of mutual economic development with other countries.
 especially advances a closer relationship with African countries for peaceful co-existence and mutual economic
development.
Skills of diplomacy
 Communication,  Tolerance
 Negotiation

Negotiation: Is to talk with diplomats and government officials in order to settle an issue or disagreement between countries
and try to come up with a solution.
 The ambassadors and diplomats in our foreign missions will meet ambassadors and government ministers from other
countries, so they should be well informed and can advise the Ethiopian government. Diplomats often have to negotiate
when situations are difficult between countries. So they have to have excellent negotiation skills.
UNIT THREE - EQUALITY
EQUALITY
 does not stand for absolute equality. It accepts the presence of some natural inequalities.
 stands for absence of all unnatural man- made inequalities and specially privileged classes in the society.
 postulates the grant and guarantee of equal rights and freedoms to all the people.
 implies the system of equal and adequate opportunities for all the people in society.
 means equal satisfaction of basic needs of all the persons before the special needs’, and luxuries of some persons may be met.
 advocates an equitable and fair distribution of wealth and resources i.e. Minimum possible gap between the rich and poor.
accepts the principle of protective discrimination for helping the weaker sections of society.
accepts remedial or restorative justice or equity to repair damages done in the past (i.e. Affirmative Actions/policies or positive discriminations.
Equality means positive discrimination. Equality involves remedial or restorative justice to repair damages done in the past. Equality involves
a process of undoing past inequalities or injustices (i.e. Positive discriminations or Affirmative action’s/policies). This could lead to greater
uniformity among members of society in terms of equality
TYPES OF EQUALITY
1. POLITICAL EQUALITY OF CITIZENS:
o stands for equal rights and opportunities for participation of all citizens in the political process. This involves the concept of
grant of equal political rights for all the citizens with some uniform qualifications for everyone.
o ensures that all citizens have equal opportunities to participate politically in a society, equal opportunities to access the law,
and to receiving equal treatment from the political institutions. Political equality (having or enjoying or exercising equal
political rights to all and equal access to seats of political power).
SOCIAL EQUALITY:
 is the elimination of social and economic differences that would stand in the way of the exercise of political equality.
 means no one should be discriminated in the distribution of rights, privileges and opportunities based on birth, caste, religion, race,
color, gender or social status
 stands for equal rights and opportunities for development for all classes of people without any discrimination.
 implies the equality of status and absence of discrimination on account of one’s race, color, caste, creed, sex and place of birth;
 Specifically, it stands for:
- Absence of special privileges for any class or caste or religions group or an ethnic group;
- Prohibition of discrimination against any one on the basis of caste, color, creed, religion, sex and place of birth;
- Free access to public places for all the people, i.e. no social segregation; and Equality of opportunity for all people.
LEGAL EQUALITY
 Equality before Law – this means that in spite of one’s rank or status in society , all are equal before the law. Law does not discriminate
on the of caste, color, creed, religion etc. Every official from the PM down to a constable or collector of tax is under the same
responsibility for every act done without any legal justification as any citizen. The state shall not deny to any person equality before the
law or equal protection of the laws within the territory of country.
 Equal Protection of Law – this means that everyone /person/citizen should be provided equal protection of the law. Everyone
/person/citizen should be provided/given the right to constitutional remedies. In brief, the law provides equal protection to all and makes
no discrimination on the basis of caste, color, creed, religion, race, social status etc.
 Provision of Equal Laws – means provision of equal laws for all citizens. Equality before the law means that amongst equals the law
should be equally administered and the like should be treated alike
THE ECONOMIC EQUALITY

ECONOMIC EQUALITY:
 equal access to economic goods, adequate/fair equality in terms of incomes, wealth and other economic opportunities).
 does not mean equal treatment or equal reward or equal wages for all.
 stands for fair and adequate opportunities to all for work or employment and for earning of their livelihoods.
 also means that primary needs of all should be met before the special needs of few are satisfied. The gap between rich and poor should
be minimum/narrowed. Economic equality implies the satisfaction of at least the basic needs of all citizens.
 Stands for fair/equitable distribution of wealth and resources in the society.
GENDER EQUALITY
 refers to equality of men and women, girls and boys, regarding their rights to enjoy equal opportunities.
 means men and women should enjoy equal basic rights such as the right to vote, to be elected and hold public offices.
 means Men and women should have equal access to education and job opportunities.
 refers to the state of being/having the same legal rights as men.
 does not mean that men and women become the same; only that access to opportunities and life changes is neither dependent on, nor
constrained by, their sex.
 requires equal enjoyment by women and men of socially-valued goods, opportunities, resources and rewards
Gender equality involves :
1)Reducing the gap between boys’ and girls’ access to education;
2)Reducing the gap b/n men women in political participation &job opportunities;
3)Supporting women and girls to exercise their rights through the gender equity policies
- such as aiding the disadvantaged and addressing direct sources of discrimination.
- Such as the use of quotas and preferential access polices targeted at under-represented groups. That preferential treatment is variously
termed as “positive discrimination”, “affirmative action” or “sponsored motivation”.