The Ethiopian Parliament has two houses. The main legislative body is the lower House of Peoples’ Representatives (HoPR) consisting of 546 directly elected members. The upper House of Federation (HoF) has 153 members designated by regional governments. Meheret Ayenew, Executive Director of the Forum for Social Studies and Tesday Mekonnen, a research consultant, both based in Addis Ababa, have produced a briefing on the Parliament for the Political Studies Association’s Parliaments and Legislatures Specialist Group.

Their Ethiopian Parliament Briefing Paper outlines the history of the legislature dating back to its establishment in 1931 by Emperor Haile Selassie I. It explores the formal functions of the Parliament, highlights the relatively high number of women members, and explores why multi-party politics has failed to take root and why, as a consequence parliamentary rule has not been institutionalised.