Does Ethnic Federalism Lead to Greater Ethnic Identity? The Case of Ethiopia

In this article, I examine the connection between ethnic federalism and the development of ethnic rather than national identities. The literature suggests such ethnification can lead to conflict and collapse of federal states—does such ethnification occur and is it attributable to ethnofederalism? Using recent data from the Afrobarometer for Ethiopia, which adopted an ethnofederal arrangement in 1995, I examine whether individuals who were politically socialized under the conditions of ethnic federalism are more likely to favor ethnic identity over a national, Ethiopian, identity. I find that individuals politically socialized under the conditions of ethnic federalism are indeed significantly more likely to embrace an ethnic rather than a national identity. However, generational affects do not appear to be related to perceptions of continuing ethnic federalism as a political arrangement. Differences of opinion on ethnic federalism are more a function of one’s group identity, rather than the intensity of ethnic identification.