ABSTRACT
The ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) ideology
of ‘‘revolutionary democracy’’ has proved difficult for outsiders to capture, and there
are a number of reasons for this. One is that little of what has been written about it is
available in English. A second is that a reconstruction suggests that the meaning and
significance of the term have shifted over the period since the 1980s when it was first
elaborated within the TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front). Finally, and perhaps
most importantly, the extent to which the ideological precepts of revolutionary
democracy are shared and understood across party membership is less than clear.
This paper seeks to shed light on the notion of revolutionary democracy by looking
at central elements of the political strategy and activities it has inspired. It explores
the relationships that the TPLF and the EPRDF government have sought to forge
between the Ethiopian state and its people, and the various political organizations
(parties, fronts, mass associations) that organize, represent or control them.
