By Magali Rheault, Gallup

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the Horn of Africa, democracy is rather scarce. But in 2005, Ethiopian voters went to the polls in the country’s first multiparty parliamentary elections to pave the way for establishing democratic values. The opposition and the ruling party, however, claimed victory, thrusting the nation into political crisis and violence. After opposition leaders were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for “outrage against the constitution and incitement of armed rebellion” (although the government pardoned them last summer), Ethiopians’ hope for a peaceful political transition was shattered. In 2006, Human Rights Watch reported that the government used “excessive force” to repress any political dissent over the election outcome and jailed Ethiopians arbitrarily. Further, before Gallup started polling in the country, the government launched a military operation in the Ogaden, Ethiopia’s Somali region, to eliminate a separatist movement called the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). In the process, many Ethiopian civilians were killed. It is against this challenging backdrop that Gallup gauged Ethiopians’ confidence in their country’s institutions… Continue reading >>