Government in Ethiopia
| Author | Harold F. Alderfer |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/j.1099-162X.1974.tb00849.x |
| Published date | 01 January 1974 |
| Date | 01 January 1974 |
Government in Ethiopia
By
HAROLD
F.
ALDERFER
Dr. Alderfer is Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Pennsylvania State University;
and Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute of African Government,
Lincoln University.
THE
most salient feature of Ethopian government is its absolute monarchy,
in reality as well as in name. This is so despite some comparatively recent
Western, democratic and modem innovations such as a written constitution,
a parliament with an elected lower house of deputies, a council of ministers,
a civil service system, and local government. As declared in the revised
Constitution of Ethopia
(1955):
"By virtue of His Imperial Blood, as well as
by the anointing which He has received, the person of the Emperor is
sacred, His dignity is inviolable and His power indisputable" (Article 4).
He is supreme in all causes, civil, ecclesiastical and military. Theoretically
at least, all property belongs to him, all titles are at his bequest, all people
of the nation are his subjects. He makes all laws, issues all decrees, and
administers the State in all its ramifications through his chosen
officials.
The Emperor
The legal title of the present Emperor is: Conquering Lion of the Tribe
of Judah, Haile Selassie I, Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia. In
1972,
he and the nation celebrated his
Both
birthday. He has been Emperor since
1930and before that since 1916was regent and heir to the throne.
The
antiquity of his
office
is unprecedented in the annals of government,
ancient or modem. He is the 225th ruler of Ethiopia descended from the
Solomonic dynasty which began when the son of the Queen of Sheba and
King Soloman ascended the Ethiopian throne as Menelik I in Old Testament
days. How much of this is legendary and how much factual history has not
been absolutelyascertained in terms of completechronology, but it is accepted
by the Ethiopian people without question arid is written into the present
constitution (Article 2). In the words of Robert Greenfield "the whole
structure of Ethiopian society - Christian church and state - is based upon
it"l.
The
absolute power of the monarch originated and stems from the
traditional functions vested in him. He is guarantor of peace and prosperity,
the defender of national unity and independence, the source of honours
and benefits, the Supreme Judge, the Defender of the Faith, the military
leader, the head of the executive, the agent of change, and the law giver.
This reverence for the Emperor extends to some degree to other "great
personages", notably the clergy and the nobility.
It
has led to an age-old
weakness in Ethiopian government - the reluctance to delegate power from
the top to subordinates. To allow this, one's status is lowered.
'Robert Greenfield, Ethiopia, A New Political History, Frederick A. Praeger,
New York, 1965, p. 43.
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