ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the structure of the Ethiopian federal system and the impact of ideologically motivated party policies that seriously affect the formal constitutional system. The separation of powers between the central and regional governments as well as the various organs of the central government is largely influenced by the leftist orientation of TPLF/EPRDF. The chapter addresses the ideological principles which are the major policy instruments that have regulated the state structure rather than the constitutional provisions in Ethiopia. Intergovernmental relations are an inevitable feature of functioning federations. It analyses the parameters of de jure and de facto power relationships between the two levels of government, along with the ways the party ideology has been used to undermine the constitutional system. Since the structures and functions of the Ethiopian federal system have been largely governed by ideologically motivated principles, the formal intergovernmental relationships became victims of the ideological convictions of the party.
