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Ethiopia The Social Order
Chapter 1 of the constitution defined Ethiopia's social
order. The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (PDRE)
was declared to be "a state of working peasants in which the
intelligentsia, the revolutionary army, artisans, and other
democratic sections of society participate." The commitment
to socialist construction was reaffirmed, as was the idea of
egalitarianism within the context of a unitary state. The
official language remained Amharic. The functioning and
organization of the country was proclaimed to be based on
the principles of democratic centralism, under which
representative party and state organs are elected by lower
bodies. The vanguard character of the WPE was asserted, and
its roles as well as those of mass organizations were
spelled out.
Chapter 2 dealt with the country's economic system. The
state was dedicated to the creation of a "highly
interdependent and integrated national economy" and to the
establishment of conditions favorable to development. In
addition, the constitution committed the state to central
planning; state ownership of the means of production,
distribution, and exchange; and expansion of cooperative
ownership among the general population.
Chapter 3 addressed social issues, ranging from education
and the family to historical preservation and cultural
heritage. The family was described as the basis of society
and therefore deserving of special attention by means of the
joint efforts of state and society. In addition, the
constitution pledged that health insurance and other social
services would be expanded through state leadership.
National defense was the subject of The first
article asserted the nation's need to defend its sovereignty
and territorial integrity and to safeguard the
accomplishments of the revolution. It was declared that the
Ethiopian people had a historical responsibility to defend
the country. The defense force was to be the army of the
country's working people. The army's fundamental role would
be to secure peace and socialism.
Foreign policy objectives were spelled out in four brief
articles in Chapter 5 and were based on the principles of
proletarian internationalism, peaceful coexistence, and
nonalignment. In many respects, the language of this section
resembled that of a constitution of a Warsaw Pact country in
the days before glasnost.
Data as of 1991
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