THE PATTERNS OF STATE REBUILDING AND FEDERALISM THEORY IN SOMALIA

Abstract

Ironically, it has been widely argued and this dissertation investigates the general opinion on whether a Federal system of government in Somalia tend to promote positive political stability, accommodate the interests of different groups, whether the current federalism fulfills that goal and, ultimately is there a barrier to shift into decentralized system amid of being a fragile state. Using a descriptive research design with self-administered questionnaire, 165 participants representing the stakeholders of the society in the federal parliament answered the questionnaire based on their opinions regarding a Federal System in Somalia, the current function of the Federal System and about the coherence between previous systems of government and the newly adopted de-centralized system. After conducting review of relevant theories, secondary research data and analyze of the primary finding, the results showed the general opinion is that a federal system in Somalia can bring political stability, end conflicts and discourage secession, however the current Federal System in Somalia is not engineered towards enhancing the prospects of state rebuilding from political perspective and there is a huge need for reform in terms of the political inclusion through party, constitutional review, supportive atmosphere for political competition, the separation of powers Parliament, Executive and Judiciary of the federal government and define the exercisable power between the states and central government and also the decent creation of federal member states and effectiveness of political institutions. Moreover the study find out that the newly born decentralized system tend to have barriers from the previous centralized system of government and the 10 years old current clan power-sharing system. This is the first research of its kind which investigates the general opinion towards the adopted Federal System of government in Somalia.