Liberia in 2011: Still Ploughing its own Democratic Furrow?

• Main Authors: Harris, David, Lewis, T.
• Language: en
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Liberia; Elections; Democracy; Political parties; Sierra Leone
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10454/5641

The momentous 2005 Liberian elections followed a devastating civil war. Remarkably, the winner of the presidential race was a woman, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and the second-placed was a footballer, George Weah. In addition, in stark contrast to many African elections in particular those in neighbouring Sierra Leone, voting patterns were fragmented: voters often chose President, Senators and Representatives from different parties or independents. Much can be explained by a remarkably level playing-field delivered by an interim coalition government providing no incumbent. In 2011, the Johnson-Sirleaf incumbency stood to significantly change the dynamics. This article seeks to discern whether Liberian elections maintain their unusual patterns, whether Liberia has joined the ranks of African patron-clientelist, dominant-party or two-party systems, in particular compared to that of Sierra Leone, or whether there are new twists in its democratic development. === Full text of the article was made available on the 1st March 2015 at the end of the publisher's embargo.