Tom Lavers succeeds at providing a nuanced and robust examination of Ethiopia’s state-led development model under the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in Ethiopia’s ‘Developmental State’: Political Order and Distributive Crisis. Spanning 1991–2019, Lavers explores the complex relationship between political order, economic transformation, and distributive crises that culminated in regime collapse and civil war in 2020. Through eleven chapters, he analyzes Ethiopia’s historical, political, and economic landscape alongside global state-led development debates.

Chapter One frames Ethiopian development by the challenges of structural transformation in “late-late” developing states. Lavers thoroughly discusses “late-late development” within the broader global financial landscape, arguing that structural transformation has historically been a political and economic challenge. In Chapter Two, he provides a theoretical framework epistemologically integrating state formation, political order, and development theory to contextualize Ethiopia’s experience. He notes that, though accompanied by persistent distributive pressures amid youth unemployment and land shortages, Ethiopia’s growth is among Africa’s fastest. He also contrasts Ethiopian development with the East Asian model. This analysis sets the stage for a critical assessment of EPRDF strategies for political stability (Chapters One and Two).

In Chapters Three and Four, Lavers traces Ethiopia’s state-building history from imperial rule to the rise of the EPRDF, including the effect of its ethno-linguistic federalism and how it shaped political order. According to Lavers, the EPRDF’s revolutionary roots, influenced by Marxist-Leninist ideology, provided a disciplined party structure while also planting seeds of future fragmentation. Examining how the EPRDF attempted to balance economic transformation with political control, Lavers argues that land tenure policies and employment opportunities were crucial in maintaining mass acquiescence (Chapter Four). Thus, Chapters Five to Eight analyze the successes and limitations of EPRDF approaches, from land tenure, industrial policy, and urbanization to social protection. Chapters Nine and Ten delve into the political and distributive crises, particularly elite fragmentation, mass protests, and ethnicity-distributive failings intersections. The role of youth-led movements in accelerating political change bridges Lavers’ eleventh chapter, reflecting on the broader implications of Ethiopia’s late-late, state-led development.

Lavers’ book is an exceptionally timely and relevant contribution to political science, development studies, and African studies, raising critical questions about the sustainability of state-led development models during a period of heightened economic, political, and demographic change. Lavers smartly applies the process-tracing method, triangulating qualitative and quantitative data sources, (1) over a decade of fieldwork (2009–2020); (2) more than 500 interviews; (3) archival research; and official statistics, ensuring analytical depth and empirical validity. By integrating historical institutionalism and political economy analysis, he moves beyond static explanations of state capacity, late-late development, and developmental state theory to illustrate the dynamic interplay between elite politics, distributive pressures, and global economic constraints.

However, a significant limitation of Lavers’ analysis is his minimal engagement with the concept of revolutionary democracy, despite its centrality to the EPRDF’s ideology. The book does not fully explore how revolutionary democracy shaped Ethiopia’s redistributive governance model and developmental state trajectory. While Lavers references revolutionary democracy in relation to party discipline and democratic centralism, he does not provide a thorough examination of how this ideology influenced economic policies and their evolution over time. That is, the significance of revolutionary democracy in terms of political and economic strategy begs for a detailed epistemological and pragmatical analysis within the broader context of Ethiopian development. Lavers presents the developmental state as a post-2001 crisis response, rather than acknowledging the ideological continuity within the EPRDF. The party’s shift toward state-led capitalism was already articulated in the mid-1990s (see EPRDF Party Congress, 1995), long before the 2001 party split. By the 1995 EPRDF Congress, the party explicitly articulated its shift toward securing capitalist development. (see Meles Zenawi, “Ye Abiyotawi Democrat Sireate Wanegnaw Adega,” unpublished manuscript, Meles Zenawi Foundation Archive, undated; circulated in connection with internal party debates during the mid-1990s ideological consolidation). The developmental state model institutionalized the EPRDF’s long-standing strategy of guided capitalist transformation rather than marking a radical departure. A more in-depth discussion of revolutionary democracy and its link to economic policy would have strengthened Lavers’ argument.

Another limitation is the book’s underemphasis on the role of international financial institutions and donor-driven policies in shaping Ethiopia’s economic strategy. While Lavers acknowledges global economic constraints, such as how Ethiopia’s industrialization efforts were constrained by fragmented global value chains, low-value manufacturing, limited prospects for economic upgrading, and the role of global competition in reinforcing Ethiopia’s dependence on external investment, he does not explore the systemic economic inequalities embedded in international financial institutions or how they influenced Ethiopia’s development trajectory. A deeper examination of global financial structures, trade regimes, and geopolitical interests would have strengthened Lavers’ analysis. The book does not address how restrictive borrowing terms, external debt obligations, and biased international credit ratings constrained Ethiopia’s ability to pursue independent development.

Tom Lavers’ Ethiopia’s ‘Developmental State’ makes a major contribution by providing a historically grounded and empirically rigorous analysis of how political order and distributive pressures shaped Ethiopia’s state-led development trajectory. It is a crucial work that provides a detailed, empirically rich account of Ethiopia’s developmental experiment. Lavers offers a compelling analysis of the intersection between political stability, economic transformation, and distributive crises. However, his limited engagement with revolutionary democracy and global structural constraints leaves room for further research. The book remains an essential resource for scholars and policymakers seeking to understand the complexities of state-led development in Ethiopia and beyond.