Status of Subnational Constitutionalism in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: Implications of Theoretical Evaluation of Some Facts

Abstract

By adopting federalism, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE)has domesticated the prominent prerequisite for subnational constitutionalism,i.e. the establishment of subnational units (SNUs), called Regions, withdesignated powers. The SNUs have competence over regional/subnational (SN)matters and governance. They can also write SN constitutions by which theyadminister themselves. This paper argues that the establishment of SNUs andthe existence of SNCs do not evince a robust SN constitutionalism (SNCM) inthe country. However, based on some theoretical normative evaluation of howmuch the constitutional system and process at SN level fare with the ideals ofSN constitutionalism, it can be witnessed that there are practices that go hand inhand with SN constitutionalism on the one hand and that are inconsistent withSN constitutionalism on the other. It, finally, concludes that strengthening thepromising steps, and a systematic approach and commitment to tackle thepitfalls enhance SN constitutionalism in the SNUs.