Federalism: ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች versus Presidency and Governors
Posted: 21 Mar 2020, 14:55
I have been thinking about comparing the two governance structures for a while now.
While at it, I recently came across a post by Halafi Mengedi on this forum that linked the idea of federalism to ንጉሰ ነገስት. It was for the first time that I read anyone make that kind of link. So, credit is due to him for making this original observation, at least as far as I know.
I am not sure if any study that defines and compares federalism in terms of these two structures (ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች versus Presidency and Governors) exists. If such a study exists, it may be an interesting read. If it doesn't, it may become an interesting body of work.
After thinking about ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች for a while now, I have been wondering if it can be considered a genuine federalism structure or not. If the structure of presidency and governors can be considered federalism, why can't ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች also be considered federalism?
It is not very easy to translate the natural meaning of the word ንጉስ lest the translation would be lost like when you translate the Afan Oromo word ጎፍታ (generous, merciful) to the Amharic word ጌታ (punisher, controller.) Likewise, ንጉስ sounds to me less authoritarian than king. Not sure if anybody else feels the same about the meanings of the two words.
If it is arguable that the governance structure through ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች (king of kings and kings) can be considered a federal structure, why wasn't it characterized as such and promoted over the last several decades?
This question raises other questions about working to diminish Ethiopia's heritage versus working for its betterment.
A while back, I asked on this forum if the term ንጉሰ ነገስት is equivalent to the word Emperor. Many emperors have had empires. I don't know any empire that had a federal governance structure. So, this boils down to that either the governance structure of ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች can't be characterized as federal or that a ንጉሰ ነገስት can't be equivalent to an emperor because both can't be true at the same time.
If the governance structure of ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች can be characterized as federal, then you will start to see a pattern of diminishing Ethiopia's heritage. One is an effort to diminish its oldest faith institution since Christ instead of making it better. Not too long ago, one of its famous leaders, Abune Petros, was the standard definition for the word ሰማዕት in Ethiopia. ኣሁን ባህር ኣቋርጦ በመጣዉ ፋሽስት እጅ የተሰዋ እና በሃገሩ ሰዉ እጅ የተሰዋ እኩል ሰማዕት ይባላሉ።
Not too long ago, the history of the country's ኣርበኞች was diminished frequently.
We now have a realization that our people may be in a position to claim the longest history on planet earth. Irrespective of how that realization came about, even after this realization, there is an argument that what could possibly be part of this long history that can be claimed, the Ethiopian ፊደል, can be conveniently discarded selectively. I am guilty of taking this position before the realization of this long history.
So, what have been diminishing Ethiopia's heritage and what have worked for its betterment over the past many decades? Was the idea of federalism through the governance structure of ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች already there or is it a new concept that was introduced recently? If it is arguable that the structure was already there, could an investment toward its betterment have worked better over the last several decades?
While at it, I recently came across a post by Halafi Mengedi on this forum that linked the idea of federalism to ንጉሰ ነገስት. It was for the first time that I read anyone make that kind of link. So, credit is due to him for making this original observation, at least as far as I know.
I am not sure if any study that defines and compares federalism in terms of these two structures (ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች versus Presidency and Governors) exists. If such a study exists, it may be an interesting read. If it doesn't, it may become an interesting body of work.
After thinking about ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች for a while now, I have been wondering if it can be considered a genuine federalism structure or not. If the structure of presidency and governors can be considered federalism, why can't ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች also be considered federalism?
It is not very easy to translate the natural meaning of the word ንጉስ lest the translation would be lost like when you translate the Afan Oromo word ጎፍታ (generous, merciful) to the Amharic word ጌታ (punisher, controller.) Likewise, ንጉስ sounds to me less authoritarian than king. Not sure if anybody else feels the same about the meanings of the two words.
If it is arguable that the governance structure through ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች (king of kings and kings) can be considered a federal structure, why wasn't it characterized as such and promoted over the last several decades?
This question raises other questions about working to diminish Ethiopia's heritage versus working for its betterment.
A while back, I asked on this forum if the term ንጉሰ ነገስት is equivalent to the word Emperor. Many emperors have had empires. I don't know any empire that had a federal governance structure. So, this boils down to that either the governance structure of ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች can't be characterized as federal or that a ንጉሰ ነገስት can't be equivalent to an emperor because both can't be true at the same time.
If the governance structure of ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች can be characterized as federal, then you will start to see a pattern of diminishing Ethiopia's heritage. One is an effort to diminish its oldest faith institution since Christ instead of making it better. Not too long ago, one of its famous leaders, Abune Petros, was the standard definition for the word ሰማዕት in Ethiopia. ኣሁን ባህር ኣቋርጦ በመጣዉ ፋሽስት እጅ የተሰዋ እና በሃገሩ ሰዉ እጅ የተሰዋ እኩል ሰማዕት ይባላሉ።
Not too long ago, the history of the country's ኣርበኞች was diminished frequently.
We now have a realization that our people may be in a position to claim the longest history on planet earth. Irrespective of how that realization came about, even after this realization, there is an argument that what could possibly be part of this long history that can be claimed, the Ethiopian ፊደል, can be conveniently discarded selectively. I am guilty of taking this position before the realization of this long history.
So, what have been diminishing Ethiopia's heritage and what have worked for its betterment over the past many decades? Was the idea of federalism through the governance structure of ንጉሰ ነገስት እና ንጉሶች already there or is it a new concept that was introduced recently? If it is arguable that the structure was already there, could an investment toward its betterment have worked better over the last several decades?