The Significance of State Institutions:
A Comparison between Norway and Ethiopia
There are several different ways in which a state can choose to govern its citizens. The two types of government that are frequently analyzed and structurally oppose one another are authoritarian versus democratic regimes. The main difference between a democracy and an authoritarian regime is that a democracy is comprised of a government that reflects the wants of its citizens. On the other hand an authoritarian regime consists of a government that has unwavering control over its population. There is an ongoing promotion for democracy to be universally adopted as the dominant form of government. This promotion of democracy has not been fully successful due to there …show more content…
The Freedom House is, “an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world.” (Freedom House 2016). If a state is democratic it will receive a lower score and the freedom status will be classified as ‘free.’ Ethiopia’s freedom status is ‘not free.’ It has a freedom rating of a 6.5. Another way to look at how democratic a country is to examine the political and civil rights score a state is given by the Freedom House. Again the lower the score the more democratic a state is. Ethiopia has a political rights score of a 7 and a civil liberties score of 6 (Freedom House 2016). The poor scores Ethiopia received can be attributed to the political instituion of Ethiopia as the Freedom House reports it, “recognizes that freedom is possible only in democratic political environments where governments are accountable to their own people.” Ethiopia is a country that represses political and civil rights which has led to citizens not being able to discuss their concerns or needs. Another way in which Ethiopia is a weak instituion is because of its high level of corruption. According to the Freedom House, “corruption remains a significant problem in Ethiopia. EPRDF officials reportedly receive preferential access to credit, land leases, and jobs.” A strong political instituion does not put the public interests second or seek to only benefit themselves. “Political corruption…common in countries where democratic institutions are weak or absent. Private rather than public interests dictate policy” (Transparency International 2016). Ethiopia does not have a constructive political instituion because it is lacking within its leadership to utilize the resources available to the country to work in the interests of its
A Comparison between Norway and Ethiopia
There are several different ways in which a state can choose to govern its citizens. The two types of government that are frequently analyzed and structurally oppose one another are authoritarian versus democratic regimes. The main difference between a democracy and an authoritarian regime is that a democracy is comprised of a government that reflects the wants of its citizens. On the other hand an authoritarian regime consists of a government that has unwavering control over its population. There is an ongoing promotion for democracy to be universally adopted as the dominant form of government. This promotion of democracy has not been fully successful due to there …show more content…
The Freedom House is, “an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom and democracy around the world.” (Freedom House 2016). If a state is democratic it will receive a lower score and the freedom status will be classified as ‘free.’ Ethiopia’s freedom status is ‘not free.’ It has a freedom rating of a 6.5. Another way to look at how democratic a country is to examine the political and civil rights score a state is given by the Freedom House. Again the lower the score the more democratic a state is. Ethiopia has a political rights score of a 7 and a civil liberties score of 6 (Freedom House 2016). The poor scores Ethiopia received can be attributed to the political instituion of Ethiopia as the Freedom House reports it, “recognizes that freedom is possible only in democratic political environments where governments are accountable to their own people.” Ethiopia is a country that represses political and civil rights which has led to citizens not being able to discuss their concerns or needs. Another way in which Ethiopia is a weak instituion is because of its high level of corruption. According to the Freedom House, “corruption remains a significant problem in Ethiopia. EPRDF officials reportedly receive preferential access to credit, land leases, and jobs.” A strong political instituion does not put the public interests second or seek to only benefit themselves. “Political corruption…common in countries where democratic institutions are weak or absent. Private rather than public interests dictate policy” (Transparency International 2016). Ethiopia does not have a constructive political instituion because it is lacking within its leadership to utilize the resources available to the country to work in the interests of its