Merera
Gudina
Abstract:
The 20th century has been shaped by class and national struggles intended to end
the asymmetrical relations that arose in the historical process of the creation
of the multi-ethnic polity of Ethiopia. This study explores and assesses the
democratization and decentralization experiment in Ethiopia. It focuses on the
Oromia region, which is the country’s largest region as well as housing its
single largest ethnic group. It describes the demand of the Oromo people for
self-rule and democratic governance on the one hand, and the promises made on
paper by the government in power, on the other. It concludes that the Oromia
region is a classical case in terms of the degree of failure of the regime’s
policies on the national question and the continued struggle for real autonomy
and democracy on the part of the local population.