Liberia

Key Takeaways: Cost of Politics

Population: 5.3 million
Head of Government: President Joesph Boakai
Ruling party/coalition: Unity Party
Last election: October 2023
Next election: 2029
Registered voters: 2.47 million (2023)
Annual salary of member of legislature: US$105,72

This study is supported by a European Union-funded project called WYDE Civic Engagement, led by the European Partnership for Democracy. The WYDE Civic Engagement project is a component of the Women and Youth in Democracy Initiative (WYDE) by the European Commission. The project seeks to enhance the involvement of youth in democratic processes at national, regional, and global levels.

Participants surveyed who won elections spent US$243,125 to do so versus US$118,000 for those who were unsuccessful. Women candidates spend far less than their male counterparts.

The idea that leaders must be people who can take care of the lives of their subject has roots in local traditions. This belief extends to the practice of modern politics, particularly in rural areas, with citizens expecting leaders to come from a wealthy or well-known family for the people to trust them with leadership positions.

“Voter trucking,” a practice whereby aspirants take eligible voters from one community to have them registered for election in another electoral district the aspirant intends to contest in return for money, continues to be a widespread practice despite the fact it is prohibited under the Elections Law. The practice is largely transactional, and the fees charged by the “imported voters” usually ranged from US$10-20 per vote.

Those who win are expected to take care of major projects in their districts as well as the personal requests made by members of the constituency: US$5,000 a month is budgeted according to respondents.

Though friends and families do make contributions to campaigns, the bulk of the campaign resources come from the candidate’s personal savings generated from salaries and business ventures. Some candidates indicated that in 2023 they had to borrow money or sell properties and other personal belongings to raise additional money for their campaign.

The predominance of money and identity in electoral politics leaves little space for debates about manifestoes and policy in legislative elections in Liberia. Politicians pay more attention to raising money for campaigning and devising strategies to play the ethnic card than packaging a more credible manifesto on their legislative agenda.

The cost of politics has increased over time because those elected tend not to abide by the social contract. Citizens see elected officials living fabulously; now say if we must elect you, you must pay. This has made Liberian politics a politics of the highest bidder.

Key Findings

Click on the headings below to find out more information

Context

Liberia has a long history of electoral politics, which dates back to the country’s founding in 1847 when popular elections were first held to elect a new president and a referendum to adopt the country’s first constitution.
Post-war presidential elections have been held in 2005, 2011, 2017 and 2023, with two successful turnovers in which opposition figures have won elections against incumbents - one of the benchmarks used by scholars as a measurement of democratic consolidation - having taken place in 2017 and 2023.
The high turnover of elected legislators, and the increasing number of independents in the legislature are all indicative of a diminishing role and influence of political parties in elections in Liberia. Recent legislative elections have furthered the argument that parties are not as important as the candidates running on them. The decline in relevance of political parties in elections has correspondingly reduced their influence in legislative politics.
The average return rate of incumbents in the last three elections for the 73-seat House of Representatives - 2011, 2017, and 2023 - was just 38%.
Despite efforts by women organisations and their supporters to increase women representation in elected and appointed positions, the share of women in the legislature has been on the decline since 2005. Just 10.7% of seats in Liberia’s 103-seat two legislative houses are currently occupied by women, a figure far below the continental average of 24%.

Cost of politics drivers

The first phase of the election campaign cycle, which also links closely with the last for those who hold positions of incumbency, in which aspirants are expected to invest is the community entry phase. During this phase, a candidate must introduce themselves to members of the community to popularise their name and to demonstrate they have the necessary resources to lead. In the Gambia’s newly liberalised political space, the personal costs of politics for individual aspirants are rising rapidly. For instance, one parliamentarian explained that the cost of his re-election increased from D25,000 in 2012 to D200,000 in 2017; an almost tenfold increase.
The second phase surrounds outlays made to secure a party nomination. Running as a party candidate gives one the advantages of utilising the party’s established organisational structure, symbol and legal requirements while an independent candidate has to meet onerous registration requirements, pay high registration and processing fees, and provide a financial statement with a huge bank balance. Nonetheless, 18 of the 73 members of the House of Representatives won as independents in 2023.
During the campaign period— usually two months for official campaigning — a candidate must ensure they reach out to communities in their district and organise rallies at which money and other materials must be donated to people in attendance. For candidates in more rural districts, where road conditions are deplorable, campaigning requires much more resources and logistical preparations, time, and labour, particularly in reaching some remote areas.
The expenditure demands do not stop at the ballot box, they continue after the elections for both incumbents and those unsuccessful candidates who retain ambitions of holding elective office. Those who do not win and intend to contest again must double up their community contributions, which arise on an ad-hoc basis, to be considered serious contenders during the next election. Whilst those who win are expected to take care of major projects in their districts as well as the personal requests made by members of the constituency.
Beyond money, ethnic identity is a key factor that can enhance a candidate’s chances of winning, or at least assure them of votes in certain areas. Most of Liberia’s electoral districts are ethnically heterogenous. The level of support one receives from the tribe or clan became the deciding factor when exploited effectively.
This tribal or clan voting pattern, and the emerging role of clans in nominating candidates suggest the dwindling role of parties among rural voters, and further highlight how politicians themselves rely more on tribal and clan solidarity as a mobilising factor, than the parties they belong to and the manifesto they proclaim.

Women and Youth

Women candidates interviewed for this study listed three crucial factors that undermined their chances of winning in their electoral districts: a lack of sufficient resources to campaign, women not being considered for leadership positions because of the preponderance of cultural and traditional norms and sexual threats and harassments.
For candidates who do not receive the support of their families, mostly women, the sources of money for campaign becomes even more limited.
The rising cost of politics has limited the extent to which many, especially women, can aspire for political offices. From the outlay required to get known, obtain a party’s nomination to challenges of canvassing and campaigning for votes, politics as currently practiced in Liberia, marginalises women, young people, and the poor, leaving governance and leadership to a club of relatively wealthy, largely-male, well-connected individuals.

Conclusions and recommendations

Most incumbents are only held to account when they fail to deliver community projects or take care of constituents’ personal demands not for failing to undertake their oversight and representation functions effectively or for their voting decisions in the legislature.
Another consequence of the high cost of politics, and identity considerations, is the extent to which they diminish competence, integrity, experience, and track record as salient criteria for voting a candidate. Aspirants experience and track record, and educational qualifications are rarely considered or discussed during campaign and canvassing events. Rather most of the questions they receive during the campaign surround ‘what have you done for us before?’ and ‘what do you have in this area?’ or ‘which clan or tribe do you belong to?’
National Elections Commission and other relevant authorities such as the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission and Ministry of Justice, must ensure candidates who violate campaign financing laws during electoral periods are held to account. The most urgent legal reform needed is a law against vote-buying and strengthening mechanisms for its enforcement against voter-trucking which has become commonplace in Liberia.
Just 15.5% of a total of 1,025 candidates that participated in the 2023 elections were female. Given this context more robust efforts to push for legislation or ensure internal party commitments to ensure adequate gender representation in internal party processes are adhered too, which can increase female representation in the legislature, are needed.
Given the high cost of participating in party politics, the legislature must reform the requirements for registering as an independent candidate. Lowering the insurance bond, minimum bank balance threshold and candidate registration fee can help remove financial barriers to political participation.

Read the brief (English)

Previous Next