How Expensive Is Liberian Legislative Politics?

A recent report by the DUCOR Institute, a Liberian think tank, has shed light on the substantial costs associated with legislative politics in Liberia. On average, it costs a legislative candidate around US$234,000 to win a seat in the national legislature. This financial barrier disproportionately affects women, who often lack the necessary financial resources and social capital to compete in Liberian politics, the report says.

The report highlights the increasing monetization of politics in Liberia, with candidates needing significant funding to run campaigns and engage with constituents. The study also points out the disparities in spending between winning and losing candidates, as well as the additional financial burdens faced by female candidates.

Launched in Monrovia on Tuesday, April 23, the report sheds light on the monetization of politics in Liberia, revealing the significant financial costs associated with running campaigns and maintaining a political presence in the country. Titled "The Cost of Politics in Liberia," the report highlights key findings regarding the financial demands and challenges faced by candidates in various phases of political engagement, from community entry to party nomination, and campaign activities.

“The survey identified a growing dominance of money in Liberian politics, with candidates requiring substantial funding not only for campaign activities but also for engagement with constituents post-election,” Ali Kaba, a fellow at DUCOR Institute, said during a PowerPoint presentation of the report.

The cost of running a campaign in a legislative election in Liberia has steadily increased over the last six legislative election cycles since the return of civilian rule in 2005, the report revealed. It said although the formal registration cost charge by the National Elections Commission has remained the same for the past two decades; the report indicates that aspirants need significant sums to get nominated by their political parties to campaign for election whether as a party candidate or as an independent, and to convince voters between elections that they are deserving of their votes.

Whilst these costs vary depending on the constituency, and based on the aspirant’s gender, there is widespread agreement that significant financial backing is required to participate because “politics in Liberia has been monetized,” the DUCOR Institute survey report says.

The survey was an initiative of the DUCOR Institute in collaboration with the Westminster Foundation for Democratic (WFD), and the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) with funding from the European Union (EU). The survey considered interviews with victorious legislative candidates and those who did not win. Group discussions were also held with CSOs to inform the final report.

Kaba said, “The survey sought to understand the growing dominance of money in Liberian politics, and how it relates to, and interacts with, other factors such as ethnicity, identity, and gender to shape electoral outcomes focusing specifically on the House of Representative elections held concurrently with the focus group discussions held with civil society representatives and political aspirants, both male and female, who unsuccessfully contested for office in 2023 further enriching the findings presented here.”

High costs and challenges in fundraising are hindering women's participation in politics in Liberia. Currently, only 10.7% of legislative seats are held by women, below the continental average. The lack of resources for campaigning is a major barrier. Cultural norms, gender-based violence, and reliance on ethnic identity also affect women's political opportunities. The focus on money and clan affiliations may lead to corruption and a lack of accountability among elected officials.

“Female candidates, on the average, spent about US$20,500.00. This means many of them were not elected.” “One outlier revealed spending US$2 million for his election bid. This is how costly politics is in this country,” Kaba, a PhD Candidate at the American University, noted. 

“The high costs across these phases, and challenges in raising the funds required, are barriers to the participation of women. 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%,” Kaba noted during the presentation.

“As the cost of participating in political processes increases, most women are faced with choosing between investing in their families or politics, with the few who seek political office outbid by relatively wealthier male candidates,” he said.

However, money is not the only cost women must face. Other important factors give people access to and keep them in power in Liberia, all of which tend to favor men over women when it comes to making leadership decisions.

The report emphasizes the influence of cultural norms, gender-based violence, and ethnic identity in shaping electoral outcomes, further hindering women's political participation.

In most parts of the country, particularly rural areas, women are largely not considered for leadership positions because of the preponderance of cultural and traditional norms, the report revealed. “Another factor concerns sexual threats and harassment women face in politics. Our research participants indicated that they experienced various forms of sexual violence, threats, and harassment during their electoral campaigns.”

However, beyond money more broadly ethnic identity is a key factor that can candidates chances of winning, or at least assure them of votes in certain areas of Liberia.

“Closely related to ethnicity and clan, are the various socio-cultural and spiritual traditional societies which wield a strong influence on politics in rural areas,” Kaba said. “Due to the saliency of ethnicity and traditional societies in elections in rural areas, some clans have adopted a practice of mediating between aspiring candidates to ensure the clan is represented in each election by a single individual.”

The report indicated that one consequence of the increasing cost of politics is that encourages corruption and diminishes the value of accountability between elected politicians and voters.

“Most incumbents are only held to account when they fail to deliver community projects or take care of constituents' demands, not for failing to undertake their oversight and representation functions effectively or for their voting decisions in the legislature,” it said. “As a result, incumbents tend to pay more attention to generating more money — sometimes through extreme means as suggested by one key informant to take care of the monetary needs to remain politically relevant.”

Meanwhile, recommendations outlined in the report include legal reforms to combat corruption, efforts to enhance civic education, and initiatives to promote gender representation in politics. These measures aim to address the financial barriers and ensure a more inclusive and transparent political system in Liberia.