Fessha, YonatanAyele, Zemelak2022-04-282022-04-282021Fessha, Y.T., Ayele, Z.A. (2021). The law and politics of internal secession: The Ethiopian experience in comparative perspective. In: Belov, M. (eds) Territorial politics and secession. Federalism and internal conflicts. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64402-4_13978-3-030-64402-4https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64402-4_13http://hdl.handle.net/10566/7331Although secession has been the subject of much scholarly work, the focus has largely been on the external dimension of secession, the decision of a territory to leave an existing state and establish itself as independent state. Little attention has been provided to the less radical solution of internal secession, the right of a community or territory to secede from a subnational unit and establish its own unit. The Ethiopian constitution is probably the only constitution that provides for internal secession as a constitutional right. It also provides for a procedure according to which the right to internal secession can be exercised. Focusing on the Ethiopian experience, this chapter discusses the law and politics of internal secession in a comparative perspective. It examines the grounds that may justify internal secession and the procedure that must govern a request for internal secession.enFederalismEthiopiaEthnic-federalismSelf-determinationState formationBook chapter