Every educated Liberian adult acknowledges that Liberia's constitutional democracy is not functioning as intended. The root of this dysfunction lies in what is referred to as the "Liberian attitude" towards governance, which has given rise to a socialized Liberian democracy. While Liberia's rule of law and governance are established in its Constitution, the nation often fluctuates between constitutional democracy and this informal system of governance.
Constitutional democracy represents a formal rule of law designed to govern the state in accordance with established constitutional principles. In contrast, socialized Liberian democracy encompasses the unwritten laws, cultural norms, and attitudes that undermine constitutional governance or disregard its enforcement. In this context, socialized Liberian democracy exerts a powerful influence over the nation, resulting in what can be described as a lazy or laissez-faire democracy.
This article aims to explore the writer's social constructivist perspective and inductive understanding of 'socialized Liberian democracy' through several thematic areas, among others.
Espousal of Vigilante Rule of Law. Liberia's socio-political landscape reveals a troubling disregard for the constitutional rule of law, a consequence of the enduring impacts of the 14-year civil war. This backdrop has created a situation where vigilantism often overshadows established legal frameworks, threatening the stability and integrity of the nation's governance.
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A recent example is the convoluted conflict within Liberia's House of Representatives, resulting in the unlawful ousting of the legitimately elected speaker without the required two-thirds vote, even the "beleaguered speaker" finally resigned in good faith to bring sanity to legislative governance. This move, aimed at installing a compliant speaker, has severely weakened the rule of law in Liberia.
Humbling Socio-ethnic Titles. Liberians generally use humbling ethnic and social titles - such as "my pa," "my ma," "uncle," "aunty," "dakpanah," "Ma Ellen," "Uncle Joe," "Ma Mary," "Uncle Papa," etc. - as suggestive of reverent knowledge, eldership, and wisdom of leadership. However, most Liberian politicians and leaders exploit the use of these humbling titles to usurp power and authority, operating in an extraconstitutional corridor or path of governance that undermines the rule of law. This informal institution of a socialized Liberian democracy undermines the practice of constitutional democracy and its tenets. In this context, these stamped titles, representing leadership wisdom, can create divisions, undermine unity, obstruct meritocracy, and compromise the rule of law, thus inviting a sense of fear and instability.
Priding Functional Literacy over Sustainable Education. Learning how to read, write, and perform some arithmetic operations is functional literacy, which is popularized as an aspect of education. Besides, functional literacy dominance undermines the collective adherence to constitutional democracy and the respect for the rule of law. Furthermore, a country's reliance on functional literacy as a standard for constructive national development compromises its true and real socioeconomic and democratic leadership/governance growth, creating a decadent society where its people barely read and write. In this context, research evidence is preponderant that Liberia is plagued mainly by functional literacy.
In the Liberian case, a real democratic society, with its astronomical investment in all forms of education as a nucleic element of its national culture, minimizes the rate of functional literacy and fosters research, creativity, innovation, and good governance for the greater good of its citizens. As an impediment to good governance, functional literacy proponents who eventually become elected or appointed leaders will produce results of their own quality, thus compromising the quality of constitutional governance and the rule of law.
Fixated Religiosity and Ecumenism. In some democracies, the fusion of religiosity and ecumenism has a positive influence on constitutional and democratic governance. However, in other democracies like Liberia, the evidence is abundant that Liberia is a vineyard of religiosity and ecumenism that interferes with constitutional and democratic governance since the country's founding for freed black slaves from the United States in the 1800s.
Research indicates that religiosity can play a significant role in either alleviating or contributing to poverty and underdevelopment, varying from one country to another. In Liberia, however, the relationship between religiosity and development has been detrimental. The prevailing mindset among many Liberians is one of reliance on divine intervention, fostering an attitude that prioritizes faith in God over personal effort and hard work. This belief has had a negative impact on the nation's constitutional democracy and its socioeconomic progress.
In times past and present (and in some instances), some proponents of the Liberian religious and ecumenical community have exploited crises between the state or government and its citizens to curry favor at the expense of both the state's executive leadership and the citizens. This tendency has helped to weaken the fabric of constitutional democracy and compliance with the rule of law. Therefore, the attendant consequences of 'Liberian religiosity' have contributed to the 'socialized democracy' status of the Liberian state.
Entrenched Ethnic and Communal Relationships. Social class and ethnic governance practices define Liberia's 'socialized democracy.' Liberians often say, "Liberia is a small country," where everybody knows everybody. Truly, Liberians are ethnically and tribally related or interrelated. The 'villageness' of Liberia - with a high intensity of social camaraderie among its people - interferes with the colorblind execution of the rule of law. The writer's construct of 'socialized democracy' is a culturally adaptive practice of governance alongside its constitutional democracy.
Political subservience. The construct of Liberia's 'political subservience' entails the powerful versus the powerless in its unitary democracy that gives the executive branch sweeping powers to exercise some degree of undue influence on both the legislative and judicial branches of government, despite the respect for the doctrine of separation of powers.
Furthermore, the concentration of executive power limits the latter branches from equitably playing their check-and-balance roles within the governance system, thus eroding the principles of constitutional democracy in favor of a socialized Liberian democracy that prioritizes personal and ethnic loyalties over the rule of law and democratic institutions. Further, the use or exercise of political subservience compromises the rule of law and democratic values, creates ethnic and tribal divisions, and promotes favoritism and nepotism, among other vices of governance.
Concluding Comments. The socialized Liberian democracy is an ethos of governance because Liberia is an ethnically and socially interwoven and unique society where nearly all Liberians are interrelated. This culturally ingrained interrelationship has an extreme influence on compromising the rule of law within the Liberian social, political, and legal context.
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Besides, Liberia's adherence to its cultural norms in exercising constitutional governance renders the nation-state a socialized democracy, in which the execution of the constitutional rule of law is severely compromised to benefit the privileged or privileged few. Again, propagating cultural norms and cultural practices over constitutionally democratic practices has potentially relegated Liberia's constitutional democracy to a socialized democracy.
To this end, Liberia faces significant challenges related to bad governance, influenced by socio-ethnic factors that undermine its constitutional democracy. To move forward, it must balance cultural values with democratic principles. By addressing these issues, Liberians can work towards a future grounded in true constitutional democracy and the rule of law. Strengthening these democratic tenets is achievable in the medium to long term through consistent efforts to mitigate these challenges.
The Author
Dr. Harry Papa Mason is a multiethnic Liberian residing in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and Liberia. His academic interests include change and conflict management, ethics, strategic planning, social impact management, and business economics. He teaches as an adjunct business instructor at Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He can be contacted at hapamajr@gmail.com.
