2025/09/10 by Gebreslassie, Seife Hailu
#East Asian Developmental States #Ethiopia #Ethiopian Developmental State #democratic developmental state #development #developmental models
paper · doi:10.71624/2t0bpe71
Development scholars, practitioners and leaders (Ethiopians and foreigners alike) usually tend to portray the Ethiopian Developmental State (EDS) as one modeled on the East AsianDevelopmental States (EADS) probably except for the label ‘democratic’ in the full nomenclature of the former (i.e a ‘democratic developmental state’). Against this backdrop, this paper critically analyzes whether the two developmental state models are essentially similar as they are often portrayed. Based on some lessons from historical experiences of the EADS and the Ethiopian experience the paper argues that the EDS andthe EADS have almost nothing in common except probably in two respects: the nature of their top political leadership - committed developmentalist leadership - and the core components of their industrial policies. Short of this, the two models are essentially different. The paper thus anchors that the portrayal of the EDS as one essentially modeled on the East Asian model is an erroneous discourse which merits serious correction and calls for a robust re-reading of the experiences of the EADS and a thorough reexamination of the EDS from that perspective.