From ‘Warlord’ to ‘Democratic’ President: how Charles Taylor won the 1997 Liberian elections

Harris, David

Abstract

For the best part of seven years, an increasing number of warring factions fought a vicious civil war for control of the West African state of Liberia. In August 1996, the fourteenth peace accord led to presidential and parliamentary elections in July of the following year. Charles Taylor and his National Patriotic Party (NPP), formed out of the original invasion force, emerged victorious with a landslide 75 per cent of the vote. Given the international reputation of Taylor as a brutal warlord whose sole aim had never wavered from the capture of power in Monrovia, Taylor's across-the-board victory appears difficult to explain. Having concluded that, despite problems and allegations, the election did seem more free and fair than not, the article examines the factors that probably influenced the electorate's choices. The results of this research show an election heavily dependent on an uncertain security situation. However, it suggests that, although a former ‘warlord’ has been rewarded, the voting was a reasoned ploy by the electorate to maximise the possibility of improved living conditions.

Citation

Harris, D. (1999). From ‘Warlord’ to ‘Democratic’ President: how Charles Taylor won the 1997 Liberian elections. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 37(3), 431-455. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X99003109

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 1999
• Deposit Date: Jan 29, 2009
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 10, 2025
• Print ISSN: 0022-278X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-7777
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 37
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 431-455
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X99003109
• Publisher URL: http://journals.cambridge.org
• Additional Information: Additional Information : © 1999 Cambridge University Press