THE STRUCTURE OF LOCAL POLITICS

Local politics is important not only at the local level. Certainly, the politics of those areas of their countries in which most liberians and Sierra Leoneans live are worth considering in their own right; but, more than that, the relations between the central government and its peripheral counterparts or extensions form an integral part of the political system as a whole. Local arenas offer resources which are relevant to the central one, just as local actors in turn need to adapt to the opportunities and exactions which the centre places upon them. This chapter examines the terms on which the resulting exchanges between local and central resources take place, the effects which these exchanges have on political life at the local level, and the instruments through which they are conducted. It aims to show both the similarities in these respects between Sierra Leone and Liberia, and the differences which arise from the general features of the two systems which have already been noted.

The formal hierarchy of local government in each country links the base unit of local administration with the central government in the coastal capital. The levels in this hierarchy, and the main officials at each, are outlined in Figure 1. For most purposes, the chain of command runs from the central government to the County or District to the Paramount Chiefdom, though in Sierra Leone some allocations, especially of central government services, are made at the Provincial level. The Liberian District is an intermediary between County and chiefdom for which no equivalent exists in Sierra Leone, and is of only minor importance.