COVID-19 Update: NED is continuing to operate during this worldwide health emergency, and to make grants in support of democracy.
However, our office is closed to the public and all in-person events and meetings have been postponed, cancelled or are occurring virtually.

Is Ethiopia Democratic? A Bureaucratic Authoritarian Regime

Issue Date October 1998
Volume 9
Issue 4
Page Numbers 62-69
file Print
arrow-down-thin Download from Project MUSE
external View Citation

Read the full essay here.

About the Author

John W. Harbeson is professor of political science at the City University of New York (the Graduate Center and City College). His books include The Ethiopian Transformation: The Quest for the Post-Imperial State (1998). He is a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow and Princeton Center of International Studies visiting fellow.

View all work by John W. Harbeson

Further Reading

Volume 27, Issue 3

The Struggle Over Term Limits in Africa: The Power of Protest

As more and more African presidents attempt to remove or circumvent constitutional term limits, African populations increasingly are mobilizing en masse, at great risk, to defend their constitutions.

Volume 31, Issue 2

The Squeeze on African Media Freedom

Sub-Saharan African governments are clamping down on media freedom. More surprising is how many of their citizens appear to support this attack on the press.

Volume 32, Issue 3

Africans’ Durable Demand for Democracy

The latest survey wave finds Africans with a still-robust demand for democratic governance, unblunted by covid or Chinese influence. Can governments deliver?