IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v656y2014i1p136-153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transition Regimes and Security Sector Reforms in Sierra Leone and Liberia

Author

Listed:
  • Ato Kwamena Onoma

Abstract

Why are some countries more successful at carrying out postconflict reconstruction programs than are others? Sierra Leone and Liberia have similar histories and suffered wars that were intimately linked. When the wars ended, foreign-backed efforts were undertaken to reform the security sector in each country. These reforms were more successful in Sierra Leone than in Liberia. This article argues that the diverging outcomes are explained by the extent to which postconflict regimes reflected the distribution of power on the ground in the two countries. Sierra Leone’s transition regime better reflected the distribution of power among forces on the ground, which led to a consultative approach to framing the reform program. The input of key local actors in policy formulation has made implementation of these reforms less difficult. In Liberia the transition regime was built on a repudiation of local power realities leading to a nonconsultative approach to reform that has severely compromised the implementation of reforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Ato Kwamena Onoma, 2014. "Transition Regimes and Security Sector Reforms in Sierra Leone and Liberia," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 656(1), pages 136-153, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:656:y:2014:i:1:p:136-153
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716214545445
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716214545445
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716214545445?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eric Williams, Mark, 2002. "Market Reforms, Technocrats, and Institutional Innovation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 395-412, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hameeda A. AlMalki & Christopher M. Durugbo, 2023. "Systematic review of institutional innovation literature: towards a multi-level management model," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 731-785, June.
    2. Ato Kwamena Onoma, 2014. "Transition Regimes and Security Sector Reforms in Sierra Leone and Liberia," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-012, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Onoma, Ato Kwamena, 2014. "Transition regimes and security sector reforms in Sierra Leone and Liberia," WIDER Working Paper Series 012, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:656:y:2014:i:1:p:136-153. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.