Assefa Fiseha is Professor of Law and Governance at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

1 Nation State: Features, Its Pitfalls and Cleavages

1.1 Nation Building or Nation Destroying?

1.2 Instruments for Polity Building

1.2.1 Political Integration and Representation

1.2.2 Delivery of Public Goods: Functioning State Institutions

1.2.3 Public Policy

       1.3 Nation State

        1.4 Pitfalls of the Nation State

              1.4.1 Coercion and Polity Building 

              1.4.2 Nation State as Promoter of Titular Nation's Interests and Values

              1.4.3 Cleavages and the Nation State    

              1.4.4 Democratic Deficit  

1.5 Conclusion

2. Federations: Main Features

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Significance of Federalism

2.3 Federalism and Federations

2.4 Some Common Features among Federations

2.4.1 Division of Powers

2.4.1.1 The Notion of Coordinate Relationship

2.4.1.2 Limitations to the Coordinate theory

2.4.1.3 Confederations

2.4.1.4 Decentralized System of Governments

2.4.1.5 The Substance of Decentralization

2.4.1.5.1 Powers of Local Governments

2.4.1.5.2 Political Decentralization

2.4.1.5.3 Deconcentration

2.4.1.5.4 Delegation

2.4.1.5.5 Arguments Against Decentralization

2.4.2 Written and Supreme Federal Constitution

2.4.3 Rigid Constitution

2.5 Federalism and Secession

2.6 Extra Constitutional Factors

2.7 Conclusion

3. Federations and Second Chambers

3.1 Rationale

3.2 Composition

3.3 Selection of Members

3.4 Powers

3.5 The Role of the HoF in Intergovernmental Relations

3.6 Conclusion

4.1 Introduction: The Nature of Cleavage and Institutional Design

4.2 Territorially Based Cleavages

4.3 Federal and Devolved Systems

4.3.1 Nigeria

4.3.3 South Africa

4.3.4 Kenya

4.4 Institutional Design

4.4.1 Integration

4.4.2 Accommodation and Power Sharing

5. Devolution and Transition in Sudan

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Conceptual Framework

5.3 Sudan's Instability

5.4 The Addis Ababa Agreement

5.5 Other Peace Deals

5.5.1 The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Interim Constitution and Other Agreements

5.6 Post Secession Sudan: The Protests, Transition and the War

5.7 Conclusion

6. Constitutional adjudication and Constitutional Governance............................

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Constitutional and Political Context

6.3 Who Should Interpret the Constitution and Why?

6.3.1 Constitutionalism

6.3.2 Human Rights

6.3.3 Institutional Advantage and Professional Competence

6.3.4 Umpiring Federalism

6.4 The Role of the Interpreter

6.4.1.1 Linking Constitutional Adjudication and Constitutional Governance 

6.4.1.3 Adapting the Constitution

6.4.1.4 Safeguarding the Constitution and Reinforcing the Democratic Order

6.5 Differences between Institutions: Supreme Court vs. Constitutional Court

6.6 Ethiopia: Federalism without Judicial Review

6.7 Is there a way out?

6.8 Conclusion

7. Conclusion

Selected References

This book explores the relationship between federalism, social divides and conflict in African countries. It details the origins, design and performance of major federal and quasi-federal states to assess their performance and propose new methods for managing these divides. Drawing on evidence from countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, the book examines the nature and causes of ethnonationalism, mobilisation and confrontation with the nation state.
The book is a comprehensive treatment of the five major federal and devolved systems in Africa. It explains their origin, design and operation, and assesses their performance. More importantly, the book explains the distinct nature of federal and devolved systems in the Global South. Federal and devolved systems in Africa cannot be understood in isolation from the nature of state power on the continent. The book explains the impact of unregulated state power on the dynamics of federal and devolved systemsin Africa. Federalism and devolution have not failed but have been betrayed ¿ both in the past and the present ¿ in serving as a venue for accommodation, intergovernmental bargaining and negotiated reform.