We Fall Down and Get Up: Carol Lancaster Reports on Elections in Sierra Leone

Publication Date: August 2007

Publisher: Center for Global Development; Center for Global Development

Author(s): Carol J. Lancaster; Carol J. Lancaster

Research Area: Government

Type:

Abstract:

Sierra Leone, where a brutal decade-long civil war finally ended in 2002, has just held remarkably fair, peaceful and well-organized elections. CGD visiting fellow Carol Lancaster, a former deputy administrator of USAID, was there as an election observer. In a new CGD Essay, she reflects on what democracy means in a country with a mere 35 percent literacy rate, a 70 percent unemployment rate, and life expectancy of only 40 years. She writes that progress will depend upon the new government's ability to tackle corruption, rebuild infrastructure and encourage investment. It will also require the emergence of a domestic constituency with the knowledge, power and commitment to hold new leaders accountable.