Beyond the Limits of Theory: Qualifying Electoral Authoritarianism in Ethiopia (2005–2015)

ABSTRACT Democratic transitions and consolidation stalled in many parts of Africa in the past three decades. Ethiopia followed a similar pattern of democratic recession, after promising openings at two important junctures, i.e. 1991 and 2005. In fact, the ruling party claimed a “100 percent victory” winning all the national parliament seats in the latest May 24, 2015 election. This article employs the case of Ethiopia to point at the limits of existing theoretical models on democratic transition explaining electoral authoritarianism. Consequently, the article underscores the need to go beyond the confines of institutional design, elite patronage, and modernization theory to factor in broader sociohistorical factors that buttress electoral authoritarianism. These, I submit, ought to include: (a) the historical sociology about the origin and development of the respective states themselves, and (b) their respective political cultures, and not least their histories of political violence.