Democracy Versus Dictatorship: The Quest for Freedom and Justice in Africa’s Oldest Republic–Liberia

This book is a study of the deportation of African-Americans to Liberia and the oppression that this deportation caused. It describes the tensions that developed between indigenous people and settlers. Dolo details the events leading to the civil war. He analyzes how Samuel Doe’s 1980 coup foreshadowed the civil war as it embittered feelings of hate and prejudice. Dolo goes on to probe the civil war itself, describing the fierce opposition between Doe’s forces and Charles G. Taylor’s National Patriotic Front. Dolo argues that because of this civil war, the Liberian nation was kept at a standstill. In his attempt to point out the causes of the war, Dolo hopes to lead Liberia and its crises toward the road of recovery. Contents: Dedication; Acknowledgements; Preface; SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL OVERVIEW; Introduction and Purpose; Deconstructing Aspects of Liberia’s Past; POLITICAL LANDSCAPE; Introduction; The Tolbert Era: 1971-1980; The Political Awakening Movement (PAM); The Doe Era: April 1980-September 1990; THE ROLE OF THE CITIZENRY; Introduction; Public Apathy: A Contextual Framework; Government-Citizenry Kinship; EXTERNAL FACTORS: U.S.-LIBERIA RELATIONS; Introduction; United States-Liberian Relations: Myth or Reality; Effects of the Special Relations; Theory on Nation Building in Liberia; RECOMMENDATIONS: Introduction; Incubator of Democracy; Dysfunctional Intellectual Tradition; Buffers; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index of Subjects; Index of Authors; About the Author.