Since 1991, Ethiopia has gone further than any other country in the world in using ethnicity as the fundamental organizing principle of a federal system of government. And yet, this pioneering experiment in 'ethnic federalism' has been largely ignored in the growing literature on democratization and ethnicity in Africa and on the accommodation of ethnic diversity in democratic states The aim of this book is to bring a much needed comparative dimension to the discussion of Ethiopian federalism. Apart from giving close examination to aspects of the Ethiopian case, the book asks why the use of territorial decentralization to accommodate ethnic differences has been generally unpopular in Africa, while it is growing in popularity in the West.