2025-2026 Series
Edith Bleich Lecture Series
"Federalism, Devolution and Cleavages in Africa"
Assefa Fiseha, Professor, Addis Ababa University
Thursday, October 9, 2025 @ 5:00pm
Richter Library, Third Floor Conference Room
Please join the Center for the Humanities at the upcoming Edith Bleich Lecture Series featuring Professor Assefa Fiseah who will present on the topic, "Federalism, Devolution and Cleavages in Africa."
Whether it is possible to ensure stability, peace and social cohesion in countries with deep societal divisions where identity and regional based mobilizations are high and if so through what type of institutional options is one of the central political questions of our time. The presentation aims to demonstrate the different institutional approaches adopted in four federal and devolved systems in Africa (Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya) to manage politically mobilized cleavages and examines whether institutional design matters in addressing demands from such groups. The main issue is how best to manage politically mobilized cleavages in countries with deep divisions.. Since the end of the Cold War, federalism and devolution have been widely used as tools to manage diversity in the global South but the findings show what some call ‘paradox’: such institutional arrangements have in some cases worked while reinforced divisions further in other circumstances. What does the evidence from Africa show? The approach adopted is both comparative and analytical. It looks into the nature of the cleavages, level of political mobilization and whether it impacts institutional design. More importantly the presentation aims to show the distinct nature of federal and devolved systems in the global south.
Assefa Fisseah is Professor at Addis Ababa University and is a leading expert in comparative federalism and devolution in Africa who has been engaged in teaching and research in higher education since 1996. He has published numerous articles, book chapters and a book related to these fields both in Ethiopia and reputable international journals. He has been engaged in constitution making processes and dialogues in several countries (Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Malawi). He has worked in joint research and training projects run by the Max Planck Institute (Heidelberg Germany), European Institute of Peace, the Forum of Federations (an international network of experts in Federalism based in Canada), Berghof Foundation (Germany), InterAfrica Group (Ethiopia) and the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) among others. Previously, he has served as Dean of the Faculty of Law and designed MA/LL.M and PhD programs run by Addis Ababa University. He has served as a lead research team in different research projects both at Addis Ababa University and other partner research institutions based in South Africa, Canada and Switzerland.
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