Editing Liberia (section)

== Government and politics ==
{{main|Politics of Liberia}}
[[File:Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf3.jpg|thumb|Former President [[Ellen Johnson Sirleaf]]]]
The government of Liberia, modeled on the [[government of the United States]], is a [[Unitary state|unitary]] constitutional republic and [[representative democracy]] as established by the [[Constitution of Liberia|Constitution]]. The government has three co-equal branches of government: the [[Executive (government)|executive]], headed by the [[President of Liberia|president]]; the [[legislative]], consisting of the [[bicameral]] [[Legislature of Liberia]]; and the [[judicial]], consisting of the [[Supreme Court of Liberia|Supreme Court]] and several [[lower court]]s.<ref name="CIA"/>

The president serves as [[head of government]], [[head of state]], and the [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[Armed Forces of Liberia]].<ref name="CIA"/> Among the president's other duties are to sign or veto [[legislative bill]]s, grant [[pardon]]s, and appoint [[Cabinet of Liberia|Cabinet]] members, judges, and other public officials. Together with the [[Vice President of Liberia|vice president]], the president is elected to a six-year term by [[majority vote]] in a [[two-round system]] and can serve up to two terms in office.<ref name="CIA"/>

The Legislature is composed of the [[Senate of Liberia|Senate]] and the [[House of Representatives of Liberia|House of Representatives]]. The House, led by a [[List of speakers of the House of Representatives of Liberia|speaker]], has 73 members [[Apportionment (politics)|apportioned]] among the 15 counties on the basis of the national [[census]], with each county receiving a minimum of two members.<ref name="CIA"/> Each House member represents an [[electoral district]] within a county as drawn by the [[National Election Commission (Liberia)|National Elections Commission]] and is elected by a [[plurality voting|plurality]] of the popular vote of their district into a six-year term. The Senate is made up of two senators from each county for a total of 30 senators.<ref name="CIA"/> Senators serve nine-year terms and are elected [[at-large]] by a plurality of the popular vote.<ref name="CIA"/> The vice president serves as the [[President of the Senate]], with a [[President pro tempore]] serving in their absence.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.onliberia.org/con_1984_3.htm#chvi | title=Constitution of Liberia | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904154117/http://www.onliberia.org/con_1984_3.htm#chvi | access-date=July 26, 2021| archive-date=September 4, 2017 }}</ref>

Liberia's highest judicial authority is the Supreme Court, made up of five members and headed by the [[Chief Justice of Liberia]]. Members are nominated to the court by the president and are confirmed by the Senate, serving until the age of 70. The judiciary is further divided into [[Circuit court|circuit]] and [[Limited jurisdiction|speciality courts]], [[magistrate]] courts, and [[Justice of the Peace|justices of the peace]].<ref name=state>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/6618.htm |title=Background Note: Liberia |work=Bureau of African Affairs |publisher=United States Department of State |date=March 8, 2011 |access-date=May 22, 2019 |archive-date=January 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122194454/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/6618.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The judicial system is a blend of [[common law]], based on Anglo-American law, and customary law.<ref name="CIA"/> An informal system of traditional courts still exists within the rural areas of the country, with [[trial by ordeal]] remaining common despite being officially outlawed.<ref name=state/>

From 1877 to 1980, the government was dominated by the [[True Whig Party]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dash |first1=Leon |last2=Services |first2=Washington Post Foreign |date=1980-02-28 |title=Liberian Elite Facing Rare Political Test |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/02/28/liberian-elite-facing-rare-political-test/0df96b47-f0ef-45de-a235-5b789ce06d15/ |access-date=2023-06-22 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=December 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213174304/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/02/28/liberian-elite-facing-rare-political-test/0df96b47-f0ef-45de-a235-5b789ce06d15/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Today, over 20 political parties are registered in the country, based largely around personalities and ethnic groups.<ref name=freedom/> Most parties suffer from poor organizational capacity.<ref name=freedom/> The 2005 elections marked the first time that the president's party did not gain a majority of seats in the Legislature.<ref name=freedom/> According to 2023 [[V-Dem Democracy indices]] Liberia is ranked 65th electoral democracy worldwide and 9th [[democracy in Africa|electoral democracy in Africa]].<ref name="vdem_dataset">{{cite web |last=V-Dem Institute |date=2023 |title=The V-Dem Dataset |url=https://www.v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ |access-date=14 October 2023 |archive-date=December 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208183458/https://www.v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Military ===
{{Main|Armed Forces of Liberia}}
The Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) have 2,010 active personnel as of 2023, with most of them organized into the [[23rd Infantry Brigade (Liberia)|23rd Infantry Brigade]], consisting of two infantry battalions, one engineer company, and one military police company. There is also a small [[Liberian National Coast Guard|National Coast Guard]] with 60 personnel and several patrol ships.<ref name="iiss2023">{{Cite book |author=IISS |author-link=International Institute for Strategic Studies |date=2023 |title=The Military Balance 2023 |publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies |pages=460–461 }}</ref> The AFL used to have an Air Wing, but all of its aircraft and facilities have been out of operation since the civil wars. It is in the process of reactivating its Air Wing with help from the [[Nigerian Air Force]].<ref>{{Cite web |author=Worzi, Alvin |date=26 November 2022 |title=Nigeria helping to revive Liberia's moribund air force wing |work=Nigeriabroad.com |url=https://nigeriabroad.com/nigeria-helping-to-revive-liberia-s-moribund-air-force-wing |access-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217031016/https://nigeriabroad.com/nigeria-helping-to-revive-liberia-s-moribund-air-force-wing |url-status=dead }}</ref> Liberia has deployed peacekeepers to other countries since 2013 as part of UN or ECOWAS missions, with the largest being an infantry unit in Mali, and smaller numbers of personnel in Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, and South Sudan. About 800 of the AFL's 2,000 personnel have been deployed to Mali in several rotations before the UN mission there ended in December 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Layton, Andrew |title=U.S. officials celebrate Armed Forces of Liberia accomplishments at MINUSMA conclusion ceremony |work=[[Defense Visual Information Distribution Service]] |date=21 December 2023 |url=https://www.dvidshub.net/news/460572/us-officials-celebrate-armed-forces-liberia-accomplishments-minusma-conclusion-ceremony |access-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217031016/https://www.dvidshub.net/news/460572/us-officials-celebrate-armed-forces-liberia-accomplishments-minusma-conclusion-ceremony |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022 the country had a military budget of US$18.7 million.<ref name="iiss2023"/>

The old military was disbanded after the civil wars and entirely rebuilt, starting in 2005, with assistance and funding from the United States. The military assistance program, which became known as Operation Onward Liberty in 2010, provided training with the goal of making the AFL into an apolitical and professional military. The operation ended in 2016, though the [[Michigan National Guard]] still continues to work with the AFL as part of the U.S. National Guard's State Partnership Program.<ref>{{cite web |author=MacDougall, Clair |title=Too small to succeed? Liberia's new army comes of age |work=Al Jazeera |date=4 March 2014 |url=http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/4/too-small-to-succeedliberiasnewarmycomesofage.html |access-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226043259/http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/3/4/too-small-to-succeedliberiasnewarmycomesofage.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Rankin, Denice |date=26 October 2015 |title=Michigan National Guard continues mentor mission to Liberian armed forces |work=U.S. National Guard |url=https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Overseas-Operations/Article/625843/michigan-national-guard-continues-mentor-mission-to-liberian-armed-forces/ |access-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217031021/https://www.nationalguard.mil/News/Overseas-Operations/Article/625843/michigan-national-guard-continues-mentor-mission-to-liberian-armed-forces/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=U.S. Embassy in Liberia |title=Ambassador McCarthy, Adjutant General Rogers Lead Press Roundtable |date=8 February 2022 |url=https://lr.usembassy.gov/ambassador-mccarthy-adjutant-general-rogers-lead-press-roundtable/ }}</ref>

=== Foreign relations ===
[[File:Secretary Kerry Listens as Liberian President Sirleaf Addresses the Post-2015 Development Panel Discussion in New York City (21582539498).jpg|left|thumb|President Sirleaf with (left to right) British Prime Minister [[David Cameron]], Colombian President [[Juan Manuel Santos]], and [[United States Secretary of State]] [[John Kerry]] in September 2015]]
{{Further|Foreign relations of Liberia}}
After the turmoil following the [[First Liberian Civil War|First]] and [[Second Liberian Civil War]]s, Liberia's internal stabilization in the 21st century brought a return to cordial relations with neighboring countries and much of the Western world. As in other African countries, China is an important part of the post-conflict reconstruction.<ref>{{Cite book |title=China and Africa |last=Moumouni |first=Guillaume |year=2018 |isbn=978-3319528939 |editor-last=Alden |editor-first=C. |pages=225–251 |chapter=China and Liberia: Engagement in a Post-Conflict Country (2003–2013) |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-52893-9_12 |editor-last2=Alao |editor-first2=A. |editor-last3=Chun |editor-first3=Z. |editor-last4=Barber |editor-first4=L.}}</ref>

In the past, both of Liberia's neighbors, [[Guinea]] and [[Sierra Leone]], have accused Liberia of backing rebels in their countries.<ref name="hrw"/>

=== Law enforcement and crime ===
{{further|Crime in Liberia}}
The [[Liberian National Police]] is the country's national [[police]] force. As of October 2007 it has 844 officers in 33 stations in [[Montserrado County]], which contains [[Monrovia]].<ref name="cdaMontserrado">{{cite news|url=http://www.emansion.gov.lr/doc/MontserradoCDA.pdf|title=Montserrado County Development Agenda|date=2008|publisher=Republic of Liberia|access-date=October 14, 2008|archive-date=November 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211102070138/https://www.emansion.gov.lr/doc/MontserradoCDA.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The National Police Training Academy is in [[Paynesville, Liberia|Paynesville City]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Nine officials commissioned|date=October 11, 2008|work=The Analyst}}</ref> A history of corruption among police officers diminishes public trust and operational effectiveness. The internal security is characterized by a general lawlessness coupled with the danger that former combatants in the late civil war might reestablish militias to challenge the civil authorities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crane |first1=Keith |last2=Gompert |first2=David C |last3=Oliker |first3=Olga |last4=Riley |first4=Kevin Jack |last5=Lawson |first5=Brooke Stearns |date=2007 |title=Making Liberia safe: transformation of the national security sector |location=Santa Monica, California |publisher=Rand |pages=9–11 |isbn=978-0833040084 |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG529.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181014212925/https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG529.html |archive-date=October 14, 2018 |access-date=October 2, 2024}}</ref>

[[Rape]] and [[sexual assault]] are frequent in the post-conflict era in Liberia. Liberia has one of the highest incidences of sexual violence against women in the world. Rape is the most frequently reported crime, accounting for more than one-third of [[sexual violence]] cases. Adolescent girls are the most frequently assaulted, and almost 40% of perpetrators are adult men known to victims.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Nicola |last1=Jones |first2=Janice |last2=Cooper |first3=Elizabeth |last3=Presler-Marshall |first4=David |last4=Walker |date=June 2014 |title=The fallout of rape as a weapon of war |work=ODI |url=http://www.odi.org/publications/8464-rape-weapon-war-liberia |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928083046/http://www.odi.org/publications/8464-rape-weapon-war-liberia |archive-date=September 28, 2018 |access-date=October 2, 2024}}</ref>

Both male and female homosexuality are [[LGBT rights in Liberia|illegal in Liberia]].<ref>{{cite web|title=State Sponsored Homophobia 2016: A world survey of sexual orientation laws: criminalisation, protection and recognition|url=http://ilga.org/downloads/02_ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2016_ENG_WEB_150516.pdf|work=[[International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association]]|date=May 17, 2016|access-date=June 11, 2017|archive-date=September 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902183618/http://ilga.org/downloads/02_ILGA_State_Sponsored_Homophobia_2016_ENG_WEB_150516.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Daniel |last=Avery |title=71 Countries Where Homosexuality is Illegal |url=https://www.newsweek.com/73-countries-where-its-illegal-be-gay-1385974 |work=Newsweek |date=April 4, 2019 |access-date=August 17, 2019 |archive-date=December 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211204842/https://www.newsweek.com/73-countries-where-its-illegal-be-gay-1385974 |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 20, 2012, the Liberian senate voted unanimously to enact legislation to prohibit and criminalize [[same-sex marriage]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.liberianobserver.com/index.php/news/item/1976-senate-passes-%E2%80%98no-same-sex-marriage%E2%80%99-bill|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805070510/http://www.liberianobserver.com/index.php/news/item/1976-senate-passes-%E2%80%98no-same-sex-marriage%E2%80%99-bill|url-status=dead|title=Senate Passes 'No Same Sex Marriage' Bill |work=Daily Observer |last=Carter |first=J. Burgess |date=21 July 2012|archive-date=August 5, 2012|access-date=September 1, 2019}}</ref>

=== Corruption ===
{{Further|Corruption in Liberia}}
Corruption is endemic at every level of the Liberian government.<ref name="2010 Human Rights Report: Liberia">{{cite web|title=2010 Human Rights Report: Liberia|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/af/154354.htm|work=US Department of State|access-date=January 10, 2013|archive-date=June 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628133946/https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/af/154354.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> When President Sirleaf took office in 2006, she announced that corruption was "the major public enemy."<ref name="hrw">[https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/22/liberia-police-corruption-harms-rights-progress "Liberia: Police Corruption Harms Rights, Progress"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308105127/https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/22/liberia-police-corruption-harms-rights-progress |date=March 8, 2021 }}, Human Rights Watch, August 22, 2013.</ref> In 2014, the US ambassador to Liberia said that corruption there was harming people through "unnecessary costs to products and services that are already difficult for many Liberians to afford".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201402211033.html|title="Liberia: Corruption Is Liberia's Problem, US Ambassador to Liberia Alarms", Al-Varney Rogers, allAfrica, 21 February 2014.|work=allAfrica.com|access-date=October 17, 2014|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923073223/http://allafrica.com/stories/201402211033.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

As of 2010, Liberia was one of the most politically corrupt nations in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020153842/http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 20, 2010 |title=2010 Corruption Perceptions Index |work=Transparency International |date=October 26, 2010 |access-date=July 22, 2011 }}</ref> This score represented a significant improvement since 2007, when the country scored 2.1 and ranked 150th of 180 countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007 |title=Corruption Perceptions Index 2007 |work=Transparency International |year=2007 |access-date=July 22, 2011 |archive-date=April 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428203145/http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> When dealing with public-facing government functionaries, 89% of Liberians say they have had to pay a bribe, the highest national percentage in the world according to the organization's 2010 Global Corruption Barometer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/gcb/2010/results|title=Global Corruption Barometer 2010|work=Transparency International|date=December 9, 2010|access-date=July 22, 2011|archive-date=April 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418031133/http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/gcb/2010/results|url-status=live}}</ref>

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