Democracy deferred: understanding elections and the role of donors in Ethiopia

bibliographic database
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Book chapter

Title:	Democracy deferred: understanding elections and the role of donors in Ethiopia
Author:	Abbink, Jan
Book title:	Land, law and politics in Africa: mediating conflict and reshaping the state
Year:	2011
Pages:	213-239
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ethiopia
Subjects:	democracy development cooperation elections 2010
Abstract:	This chapter revisits the issue of elections and democracy in Africa, a theme that emerged as dominant in scholarly discussions in African Studies in the 1990s. The trigger for featuring Ethiopia as a case study was the parliamentary elections of May 2010 when the incumbent party, which had been in power since 1991, took 99.6 percent of all the seats. While the various Ethiopian elections are not discussed in detail, the political culture or wider context in which they occurred is highlighted to demonstrate the enduring mechanisms and problems of hegemonic rule and to show how difficult it is to create a democratic system that allows for changes in power (alternation). The relationship between one-party rule and economic development is also discussed - the latter being a donor obsession that clouds the political agenda. The chapter closes with some reflections on the recurring donor-country dilemmas when it comes to dealing with electoral autocracies such as Ethiopia. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Book abstract]