Read the full essay here.
While Liberia’s postconflict stability is impressive, its institutions are weak, and its democratic consolidation is incomplete and reversible. Analyzing Liberia’s 2005, 2011, and 2017 elections reveals three trends. First, there has been an ongoing establishment of the norm that power should be contested institutionally, rather than by nonconstitutional means. Second, each election has seen allegations of electoral fraud by losing candidates, exposing institutional weaknesses and further eroding state-citizen trust. Third, increased electoral competition suggests that Liberia’s democracy is opening up, but also reveals the pernicious and widely shared notion that the path to wealth is through the public sector. As international aid to Liberia decreases, entrenching democratic norms remains a key challenge.