Comparative Analysis of Ethiopian Constitutions: the 1931,1987 and 1995 Constitutions of Ethiopia

Constitution is a set of fundamental laws that govern and guide the power and function of the government. The existence of constitution is paramount important for the development of democracy in a specific country. Despite this the mere existence of constitution cannot be a guarantee for constitutionalism. Since,constitutionalism does not mean only having constitution,but it is the practical application or implementation of that given constitution on the ground. Even if the purpose of constitution is limiting the power of the government ,undemocratic governments may develop constitution,in order to use it as a cover to legitimize their power. The same was true for Ethiopia along with constitutions established in the previous regimes. In fact the country had the experience of four written constitutions.1931 was the first written constitution in the history of the country,and revised in 1955 with in the same regime. In 1987 the new constitution was established by another regime. The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopian is a new constitution that come up with Federalism in Ethiopia.