ASSIGNMENT TWO

1)

 Government is only an element of the state:

A State has four essential elements:- Population, Territory,
Government and Sovereignty. Government is only one element of the
State. It is just one part of the State which acts for the state.
 Government is an Agency or Agent of the State:
Government is an agency of the State. It acts for the state. It is that
agency of the State which formulates the will of the state into laws,
implements the laws of the state and ensures conformity to the laws of
the state. Government exercises power and authority on behalf of the
state.
 State is Abstract, Government is Concrete:
State is a concept, an idea or a name used to denote a community of
persons living on a definite territory and organized for the exercise of
sovereignty. State cannot be seen. Government is made by the people of
the State. It is formed by the representatives of the people. It has a
definite and defined organization and form. It can be seen as a team of
people exercising the power of the State.
 Government is organized only by a portion of the population of
State:
The whole population is a part of the State. All the people are citizens of
the State. However, government is made by the representatives of the
people. Only some people, who get elected act as representatives of the
people, form the government of the State. Their number is limited to
few hundred only. In India around 5500 MPs and MLAs represent the
total population of around 110 corers and exercise the political power
at the center and in all states of India.
 Membership of a State is compulsory but not Government:
All people are citizens of the State. They together constitute the
population of the State. Each one normally gets the membership
(citizenship) of a state automatically right at the time of one’s birth and
continues to live life as such. However, membership of the government
is not automatic. No one can be forced to become its part. Anyone can
voluntarily seek an election, get elected as a representative of the
people and become a part of the government. Only some persons form
the government.
 Sovereignty belongs to State and not to Government:
Sovereignty is the hallmark of the State. It belongs to the State. The
government exercises power on behalf of the State. It acts on the basis
of the sovereignty of the State. Sovereignty is comprehensive, absolute,
unlimited and all inclusive supreme power of the State. The
government exercises only well-defined and limited powers.
 Territory belongs to the State:
The State has sovereign ownership and jurisdiction over its territory.
State is a territorial entity and territory belongs to it. The government
has the responsibility to preserve, protect and defend the territory of
the State. The laws made by the government are applicable to all parts
of the territory of State but territory belongs to the State and not to the
government.
 Every State has uniformly four essential elements, however the
forms and features of Government differ from State to State:
Each State has a uniform personality with its four essential elements
Population, Territory, Government and Sovereignty. However,
governments can be of different forms— Parliamentary or Presidential,
Unitary or Federal or a mixture of these. A government can be
monarchical or aristocratic or democratic or a dictatorship. The people
can by choice change the form of their government. But the State exists
independently and has a uniform character.
  State is Permanent, Government is Temporary:
Governments come and go regularly. After every general election the
government changes. It can also undergo a total change through an
election or even through a revolution. State is permanent. It
continuously lives so long as it continues to enjoy sovereignty.
Independent India continues to live as a sovereign independent state
since 1947. However, she has witnessed the rise and fall of several
governments at the national and state levels.
2) Nature and role of state
1. IDEALISTTHEORYOFPOLITICS
 Plato & Aristotle are considered to be founders of the idealist
theory.
 They started the premise that man is by nature a social and political
animal.
 It is only by living in society that man can develop his personality
and realize all that is best in him. They never differentiated society
with the state.
 They regarded the state as a self-sufficing entity identical with the
whole of society, existing for itself and by itself.
 The state is the ethical institution and therefore an end itself.
 Hegal (1770-1831): founder of modern idealism, conceived as the
state as an ethical community.
 The modern idealist developed a philosophy which magnified the
state in to a self-sufficing entity.
 They regarded state as an organic unity and held it as the highest
expression of social morality.
 State as the moral organism individual is an inseparable part of it
and he depends for his existence up on it.
 State exists to create and maintain those conditions in which free
and moral life is possible.
MARXISTTHEORYOFTHESTATE
 The early Marxist thinkers considered the state as an instrument of
exploitation in the hands of the dominant class.
 The state does not stand for the good of all; rather it protects and promotes
the interest of the few at the cost of many.
 The state is an agency of class coercion in the hands of the dominant economic
class.
 The state maintains its exploitative class character right from its origin
through various phases in developments.
MARXIST/ STATE
1. State is an instrument of class domination
2. State comes into existence for the protection of private property 3. State is a
symbol of injustice
NEO-MARXISTTHEORIESOFSTATE
 According to Webber, the state has its own powerful resources; it enjoys
executive control over legitimate use of force in society which is not
accessible to private interests.
 It maintains a strong organization in the form of bureaucracy which can
formulate, implement and monitor the policies of the state. The state power
could not be reduced to an instrument of class interests.
LIBERALTHEORYOFSTATE
 A liberal state adopts a liberal attitude towards the rights & privileges of the
citizens.
 The restrictions of any type adopted by the government will curb the liberty
and spontaneity of the individuals. It will slow down the growth of man’s
personality and inherent qualities.
 So liberal state donates a limited government or limited state.
 A state is liberal when it acknowledges the opinions, attitudes and behaviors
of individual and does not think these as a threat to existence and
administration of state.

3) A citizen: - refers to the person who is a legal member of a particular State and
one who owes allegiance to that State. To describe it in a different mood, citizen is
a person who is legally recognized as member of a particular, officially sovereign
political community, entitled to whatever prerogatives and encumbered with
responsibilities.

- Is a person who is acknowledged as a legal member of a community (usually a

nation). A person obtains this status through birth, the nationality of parent or
parents, or by going through the “naturalization” process through which he/she is
legally made a citizen.

4) A) ACQUISITION OF CITIZENSHIP IN ETHIOPIA

Nationality by Descent

The Proclamation on Ethiopian Nationality of 2003 indicates the

following regarding the acquisition of Ethiopian nationality by descent and
the conditions to be fulfilled:

A) Acquisition by Descent

- Any person shall be an Ethiopian national by descent where both or either of

his parent is Ethiopian.

- An infant who is found abandoned in Ethiopia shall, unless proved to have a

foreign nationality, be deemed to have been born to an Ethiopian parent and
shall acquire Ethiopian nationality.

The proclamation thus affirms the previous rule that the law of blood (jus-
sanguinis) is the dominant way of acquiring Ethiopian citizenship. No
general rights to acquire citizenship through birth in the territory (ius soli)
are applicable in the case of Ethiopia. However, protection against
statelessness is provided for foundlings for the first time.

Adoption

Unlike the 1930 nationality law, the 2003 proclamation provides for the
possibility of citizenship acquisition through adoption. The proclamation
provides that “any child adopted by an Ethiopian national may acquire
Ethiopian nationality by law” (article7). For this to take place the following
clear guidelines are provided.
 •The adopted child shall not have attained the age of majority.

•The child must live in Ethiopia together with his/her adopting parents.

•If one of the adopting parents is a foreigner, the foreigner parent shall
express his consent in written form.

If the child has a previous nationality this must be revoked.

Marriage

The acquisition of citizenship through marriage is practiced in line with

Article 6 of the nationality proclamation, which states “a foreign national who
is married to an Ethiopian national may acquire Ethiopian nationality by
law....” The procedure to do so requires the following cumulative conditions to
be fulfilled:

The marriage needs to be conducted in accordance with Ethiopian law or the law
of any other country.

•There must be a total lapse of two years since the conclusion of the marriage.

•People must live in Ethiopia for a total of two years preceding the submission
of the application.

•People must also fulfill the conditions stated in Article 5, sub articles1, 7 and
8 of the proclamation on naturalization requirements.

Even if the concluded marriage is dissolved by divorce or death, the acquired

nationality shall remain intact in law, yet the person is free to change.

Naturalisation

The specific legal term for a foreigner becoming a citizen of another country is
naturalisation. Unlike citizenship through birth, naturalisation has numerous
criteria such as social, economic, language, political and legal requirements
which foreign nationals needs to fulfill.

In the FDRE nationality law, “any foreigner may acquire Ethiopian nationality
by law in accordance with the provisions of article 5-12 of this proclamation.”
 The FDRE Nationality Proclamation states that a foreigner who fulfills the
following requirements can acquire Ethiopian nationality following a formal
letter of application .He/she must

• have attained majority age and be legally capable under Ethiopian law

• have been domiciled in Ethiopia for a total of four years

• be able to communicate in any of the languages of nations/nationalities in the

country

• have sufficient and lawful sources of income

• be a person of good character

• have no record of criminal convictions

• be able to be released from a previous nationality

• be able to take the oath of allegiance stated under article 12.

B) LOSING OF CITIZENSHIP IN ETHIOPIA

The Proclamation provides that deprivation of Ethiopian nationality is

not permitted. Therefore, Ethiopian nationality can only be lost on the basis
of voluntary renunciation or, in a procedure the law deems to be
voluntary, on acquisition of another nationality. Dual nationality is not
permitted.

Loss on acquisition of another nationality

In line with the intentions of the UDHR, Ethiopia recognizes the right of
individuals to change nationality and specifies that “any national has the right to
change his Ethiopian nationality” (Article 16).

The loss of Ethiopian nationality on the acquisition of another nationality is

considered voluntary renunciation of Ethiopian nationality: “...any Ethiopian who
voluntarily acquires another nationality shall be deemed to have voluntarily
renounced his Ethiopian nationality” (Article20 (1)).
Article 20 (4) provides that “A person who retains another nationality in addition
to Ethiopian nationality shall be considered solely an Ethiopian national until the
loss of his Ethiopian nationality pursuant to Sub-Articles (2) or (3) of this Article.

” One inbuilt caveat of the law is that the loss of Ethiopian nationality does not
have implications for spouses and/or children: “a person’s loss of Ethiopian
nationality shall have no effect on the nationality of his spouses and children”
(Article21).

Renunciation

Article 19 (1)states that “any Ethiopian who has acquired or has been
guaranteed the acquisition of the nationality of another state shall have the right
to renounce his Ethiopian nationality. ”This article tells us that renunciation has
to be operational after securing another nationality.

The Ethiopian law provides additional safeguarding conditions on renouncing

Ethiopian nationality. Article 19 (4) a&b states that:

An Ethiopian who has declared his intension to renounce his nationality may
not be released until:

a) He has discharged his outstanding national obligations;

b) If he has been accused of or convicted of a crime, he has been acquitted or

served the penalty.

No involuntary deprivation

Ethiopian Law embodies strong protection against involuntary deprivation of

citizenship. This is constitutionally recognized. Article 33 (1) of the FDRE
Constitution provides that “no Ethiopian national shall be deprived of his/her
Ethiopian nationality against his/her will. “This statement should be read in
conjunction with Article 17 of the nationality proclamation:

“No Ethiopian may be deprived of his nationality by the decision of any

government authority unless he loses his Ethiopian nationality under
article 19 or20 of this proclamation.” One can conclude that the Ethiopian
 law has no room for involuntary deprivation of citizenship. This is a hugely
commendable side of the law in times in which the world is shocked by
problems of statelessness.

Reacquisition

The conditions for readmission to Ethiopian nationality include renunciation

of a foreign nationality. The current law on readmission reads:

Article22. Re-Admission to Ethiopian Nationality

1/ A person who was an Ethiopian national and who has acquired foreign
nationality by law shall be readmitted to Ethiopian nationality if he:

a) Returns to domicile in Ethiopia;

b) Renounces his foreign nationality; and

c) Applies to the Authority for re-admission.

5) The reasons:

Prior to 1931, Ethiopia did not have a constitution. Ethiopia was

governed more by custom and norms and tradition. Considering that humans
have a recorded history of over 5,000 years, keep in mind that nations with
formal boundaries have only existed beginning over the past 200 years. This
should give you a sense of the fleeting nature of constitutions anywhere in the
world, let alone in Ethiopia.

Secondly, unlike Ethiopia, Westerners were more formal in writing

exclusionary laws prohibiting women from participating in society. Despite
custom and tradition, where obeying elders was observed, or where boys and
men were treated with preference in certain situations over girls and women,
Ethiopia has never had a rigid or legal or formal method of excluding or
repressing women from politics.

Thirdly, in the West, gender equality and gender studies are also a relatively
recent topic of concern; meaning, Western women had to claim their rightful
place in society, academia, and the law because the laws and constitutions in
the West formally excluded women. As mentioned in the second point above,
said formal exclusion of women did not exist in Ethiopia in 1931 and 1955.

Therefore, when the Ethiopian Constitution was being drafted, gender

equality was not only an issue, but, even in the West, it has only received
credible political support only after the 1970’s and 1980’s.

This last detail matters because during the drafting of both constitutions,
Emperor Haile Selassie consulted with Western legal scholars at length, and
those scholars were not versed in nor were they concerned about gender
equality.

Outside of that, if it were not for political interference, the civil, commercial,
and criminal codes of Ethiopia are as rigorous and robust as any Western
nations, and apply equitably for all citizens. Tragically, the TPLF has
Balkanized the country and the political balkanization prevents the fair and
equitable application of the existing laws in Ethiopia.

6) Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime,

including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It
may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a
transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or
transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic
political system.

The outcome may be consolidated or democratization may face frequent

reversals. Different patterns of democratization are often used to explain
other political phenomena, such as whether a country goes to a war or
whether its economy grows.

Whether and to what extent democratization occurs has been attributed to

various factors, including economic development, historical legacies, and
civil society. Some accounts of democratization emphasize how elites drove
democratization, whereas other accounts emphasize grassroots bottom-up
processes.
SOURCE
1. https://www.quora.com/Why-didnt-the-first-two-constitutions-
of-Ethiopia-1931-1955.

2. Report on Citizenship Law: Ethiopia RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR

2020/9 April 2020, Authored by: Zecharias Fassil.

3. https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/stateandgovernment

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratization

5. MORAL AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION (MCED 1011), Teaching

Module, Prepared by: Shewit Gebrezgabher_Ass. Prof. (Mekelle
University) & Gebretsadik Awgichew_Lecturer (Bahirdar University)

6.http://www.macollege.in/app/webroot/uploads/department_ma
terials/doc_457.pdf