Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates the political economy of Ethiopia and Rwanda through a causal mechanisms analysis of wealth and power concentration by the politico-military elites. Based on empirical work on oligarchic tendencies the paper debates the claims to 'developmental patrimonialism' by scholars.

Paper long abstract:

Ethiopia and Rwanda are branded as 'East African miracles' due to their fast-economic growth of the past decades. Some researchers have characterized this phenomenon as 'developmental patrimonialism' and suggested it as a model worth emulating by other African states. Yet, the sheer political power of the political and military elites and the use of that power in controlling the commanding heights of the economies and wealth concentration by politico-military elites is quite evident in both countries. This phenomenon, in many ways, has contributed to oligarchic politics than a 'developmental patrimonialism' political economy. The paper discusses the tendencies and mechanisms of 'wealth creation and defence' in Ethiopia based on empirical study of power and wealth concentration under the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) since 1991. Then, through a comparative process tracing, it applies the causal mechanism to the target case of post-1994 Rwanda. Theoretically, the paper benefits from a constructive engagement of the political settlement literature and the recent theoretical clarifications of the oligarchy thesis.