Download or read book Liberia written by Mary H. Moran and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2008-07-17 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Moran argues that democracy is not a foreign import into Africa, but that essential aspects of what we in the West consider democratic values are part of the indigenous traditions of legitimacy and political process.
Download or read book Liberian Democracy written by Thomas Kaydor, Jr. and published by Author House. This book was released on 2014-09-27 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development is stagnated, and poverty is widespread in Liberia because the Legislature is weak, corrupt and greedy, thereby pursuing self-interested agenda at the detriment of the general public. The Judiciary is also corrupt and subservient to the Executive, which dominates and controls state resources. This writer explains why the Legislature and Judiciary are weak, corrupt, inefficient and ineffective. He proposes how these dormant branches of government could become more effective and robust to curb presidential dominance by upholding the principle of checks and balances in Liberia's democracy. He also argues that mass illiteracy leads electorates to electing incompetent legislators. The writer further points out that widespread illiteracy undermines most of the citizens' capacity to critically and rationally analyse National Policies. Hence, they usually fail to hold their legislators or government accountable. The writer maintains that to alleviate poverty and transform Liberia into a developmental state, the Legislature needs to assume its role by becoming robust, efficient and effective. It must promulgate pro-poor laws and policies intended to alleviate widespread poverty. This will engender national development. He concludes that the National Legislature, through prudent budgetary allocation, needs to promote infrastructural development, the right to food, equitable access to quality education, healthcare, safe drinking water, and public housing.
Download or read book Liberia under Samuel Doe 1980 1985 written by Yekutiel Gershoni and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-03-28 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 12, 1980, a group of soldiers led by Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe executed a bloody coup that put an end to the Americo-Liberian minority regime in Liberia, transforming Africa’s first republic into a military dictatorship. In Liberia under Samuel Doe, 1980-1985: The Politics of Personal Rule, Yekutiel Gershoni examines the evolution and effects of Samuel K. Doe’s reign in Liberia. Gershoni shows Doe’s path to absolute power, corruption, and dictatorship and the economic crises and political turmoil that ensued, even after his murder in 1990. Liberia under Samuel Doe also examines the role of the United States as Liberia’s closest ally, detailing how Doe managed to attract American diplomatic and military support due to U.S. interests in the Cold War. Through in-depth research, primary sources, and interviews with diplomats, politicians, and activists, Gershoni carefully details the timeline of Doe’s rise to power and the lasting effects of his dictatorial legacy.
Download or read book Promoting Dialogue and Democracy in Post Conflict Liberia written by Tarnue Johnson and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2006-10-12 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Organization of the book The book has been organized into five chapters excluding these introductory sections. One important fact to mention here is that this book is a compilation of a series of microethnographic studies about adult learning and social change in Liberia. The idea of change through open systems of thought and democratic discourse runs through the book as an organizing theme. Chapter one maintains that through critical consciousness and dialectical thought processes as posited in the field of developmental psychology, human beings can become motivated and empowered, thereby enhancing a profound process of structural and institutional change. Thus, what weaves the different sections of this chapter together into a coherent whole is the suggestion that the main challenge of post-war development in Liberia is to modify the influence of existing historical and contemporary institutions by building upon and refining those aspects that appeal to our rational instincts and sense of modernity, such as the need to change and improve the way we interpret the meaning of our experiences, so that we may become co-creators of our historical destiny. Chapter two builds on the first chapter in very significant ways, including how the breakdown of reasoned discourse, due to selfishness can lead to innumerable consequences for human social systems and civilizations. This chapter is primarily an imaginary dialogue about the relationship between our various definitions of self and the emergence of tragedy in Liberian society. I attempted here to gauge the social anthropological question as to how best to maintain or restore a stable balance between the imperatives of selfhood and the ethics of collective social action. A major hypothesis emanating from this heuristic approach is that the Hobbesian dilemma posed by random disorder arising from the urge to self-preservation can be somewhat restrained by balancing communal interest with individual autonomy, within the context of a deliberative democracy. The dialogue in the chapter primarily reflects a variety of sources and methods across the social science disciplines. It is further viewed as an exercise in learning and criticism as David Bohm and Hans-Georg Gadamar would understand these terms (see chapter three). The dialogue also resembles a Socratic type dialogue in which the reasoning process that leads to the elimination of contradictions in thought is more important than the mere presentation of facts. The aim of this chapter, as with other chapters in this book, is to highlight the importance and means of facilitating personal and social transformation in a postconflict situation in Liberia. In the context of adult participants in learning and civil society, this transformation can come about by facilitating movements toward more developmentally advanced meaning schemes and perspectives (Mezirow, 1995). Chapter three is about the constitution of legitimate governance arrangements that embrace participatory models of development. One of the central theses of the chapter is that the process of change in Liberia should be undergirded by rationally based institutional rules and norms. This process of building legitimacy requires meaning construction within the framework of agreed upon procedures and modes of justifications to arrive at tentative best judgments and paradigms. Through this process of democratic discourse, we can internalize processes of legitimacy, change, and constitutional self-governance. Like chapter four, the chapter concludes that democratic elections in Liberia are only but the beginnings of a process of structural and institutional transf
Download or read book Peacebuilding and Ex Combatants written by Johanna Söderström and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-17 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book examines how ex-combatants in post-war and peacebuilding settings engage in politics, as seen in the case of Liberia. The political mobilization of former combatants after war is often perceived as a threat, ultimately undermining the security and stability of the state. This book questions this simplified view and argues that understanding the political voice of former combatants is imperative. Their post-war role is not black and white; they are not just bad or good citizens, but rather engage in multiple political roles: spoilers, victims, disengaged, beneficiaries, as well as motivated and active citizens. By looking at the political attitudes and values of former combatants, and their understanding of how politics functions, the book sheds new light on the political reintegration of ex-combatants. It argues that political reintegration needs to be given serious attention at the micro-level, but also needs to be scrutinized in two ways: first, through the level of political involvement, which reflects the extent and width of the ex-combatants’ voice. Second, in order to make sense of political reintegration, we also need to uncover what values and norms inform their political involvement. The content of their political voice is captured through a comparison with democratic ideals. Based on interviews with over 100 Liberian ex-combatants, the book highlights that their relationship with politics overall should be characterized as an expression of a 'politics of affection'. This book will be of much interest to students of peacebuilding, African politics, democratization, political sociology, conflict resolution and IR/Security Studies in general.
Download or read book George Weah Taking on 170 Year Challenges of Liberia written by Moses Kulo and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2018-08-22 with total page 25 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Weah: Liberia's most celebrated world icon and elected president is on a mission. He positions himself to take on 170-year social inequality, economic, political, corrupt, and other institutional challenges of Liberia. Would Weah accomplishes his vision for Liberia?
Download or read book Politics in Liberia written by Martin Lowenkopf and published by Stanford, Calif. : Hoover Institution Press. This book was released on 1976 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Liberia s Political Economy written by Stephen H. Gobewole and published by Dog Ear Publishing. This book was released on 2016-09-29 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since it was founded for freed blacks in the early 1800s, Liberia has been a country of extremes, whether comparing wealth and poverty; the lifestyles of urban elites and rural tribal communities; or corrupt national government and familial trust. This book uses Liberia’s history as the background and ongoing source of the current political and social situations, as revealed by Afrobarometer data. The study considers the ethnicity, gender, and residential location of Liberian citizens and their attitudes regarding the country’s rule of law, state authority and democratic accountability – it’s government and economic health. After presenting the history and the current data, the author makes recommendations for changing the future of this African nation. If implemented, these changes could have a profound and positive effect on the future of this country that is rated as the third-poorest in the world.
Download or read book Liberian Politics written by Hanes Walton and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2002 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Liberian Politics tells the fascinating story of Liberia's early nation-building efforts, its attempts to establish democracy, and the pivotal role played by African Americans in exporting the American democratic experiment to Liberia. The story of the rise of Africa's oldest democracy is told through the writings of J. Milton Turner, an African American diplomat who served in Liberia from 1871 to 1878. Turner's official diplomatic correspondence--superbly organized and edited by Walton, Rosser, and Stevenson--document Liberia's struggle to define its political institutions and processes. They chart Liberia's struggle to establish its relationship with the wider world and offer an intimate portrait of Turner's role as the agent of U.S. foreign policy in Liberia. A comparative study in the best tradition of Tocqueville and Myrdal, this pathbreaking work reveals the global dimensions of nineteenth-century African American politics and offers rich insight into the direction of early U.S. diplomacy in Africa.
Download or read book Liberia in World Politics written by Nnamdi Azikiwe and published by . This book was released on 1934 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Popular Political Culture Civil Society and State Crisis in Liberia written by John Charles Yoder and published by Edwin Mellen Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work focuses on deeply embedded political values that are shared by the vast majority of Liberia's population. Its conclusions are that Liberian politics failed because of civil society's illiberal overemphasis on stability and order at the expense of tolerance and accountability.
Download or read book Beyond Plunder written by Amos Sawyer and published by Lynne Rienner Pub. This book was released on 2005 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can a stable political order be established in Liberia in the aftermath of the collapse of governance and a period of pillage and carnage? Amos Sawyer draws deeply on his experience as head of state as he explores new ways of establishing constitutional foundations for democratic governance.
Download or read book Across the Landscape written by H. Boima Fahnbulleh and published by Universal-Publishers. This book was released on 2004-08 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A selection of writings and speeches on the political evolution of the West African Republic of Liberia from 1978 to 2001 by a Liberian political activist who has been at the centre of the political developments in that country during the period covered.
Download or read book Voting for Peace written by Terrence Lyons and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elections have been used as a mechanism to institutionalize a new political order following internal conflict in Cambodia, El Salvador, Angola, Mozambique, Bosnia, and now Liberia. This book analyzes the Liberian transition and the July 1997 elections in order to better understand the relationship between war termination and transitions to democracy and the role post-conflict elections play in promoting both of these goals. The Liberian elections represented the final stage of a seven-year, West African-led peace process. An overwhelming majority voted for former factional leader Charles Taylor in the belief that if Taylor did not win, war would erupt again. The Liberian transition demonstrates that post-conflict elections may play an important role in a process of war termination. In many cases, it may be necessary to move forward with war termination and "imperfect" elections in the short run and pursue goals relating to democratization after the new government has been put in place. This study uses a detailed examination of the difficult Liberian case to highlight the more general challenges of helping countries make the transition from civil conflict and authoritarian rule to peace and democracy. Studies in Foreign Policy
Download or read book Civil War and Democracy in West Africa written by David Harris and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-12-13 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the aftermath of explosive civil wars in Africa during the 1990s and 2000s, the establishment of multi-party elections has often been heralded by the West as signaling the culmination of the conflict and the beginning of a period of democratic rule. However, the outcomes of these elections are very rarely uniform, with just as many countries returning to conflict as not. Here, David Harris uses the examples of Sierra Leone and Liberia to examine the nexus of international and domestic politics in these post-conflict elections. In doing so, he comes to the conclusion that it is political, rather than legal, solutions that are more likely to enhance any positive political change that has emerged from the violence. This book is thus of significance to Western and African policy makers, and also to students and scholars who wish to engage with the critical issues of conflict resolution and reconciliation both in Sierra Leone and Liberia in particular and in the wider region in general.
Download or read book Liberia the Road to Democracy written by Willie A. Givens and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
