PBPL 85 Visits the Supreme Court of Liberia

With election tensions running high, Public Policy 85 students attended what is most likely one of the most important Supreme Court cases in Liberian history. One of the candidates in the October 10th election challenged the results, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. The run-off election cannot go forward until this issue is resolved.

At 9 am, we arrived to hear cases argued by the Liberian National Elections Commission and the Liberty and Unity parties, two of the 20 parties that ran in the first round. We secured seats in upper gallery (very hot) and sat through the whole hearing (very long). The nation is hoping to make the first peaceful democratic transition of power since 1943. The Supreme Court has 7 days to announce its decision, so we will be here for that. 

Later that night, students dined with Patrice Juah, a former Miss Liberia and a past visitor to Hanover as part of the Young African Leaders Initiative. Patrice invited several local friends and we were able to have informal discussions on Liberian culture. 

"LIB is the place to be." 

Written by Allyssa Dobkins '19, a 17F PBPL 85: Global Policy Leadership course participant

This is part of a series where student reflect on their experiences during the field research portion of the PBPL 85:Global Policy Leadership course. The 2017 PBPL 85: Global Policy Leadership class is conducting two weeks of research in Liberia during the off-campus portion of the course, in order to produce a comprehensive policy memo. During Dartmouth’s winter interim, students meet with local policy leaders: politicians, academics, civil society leaders, journalists, business leaders, diplomats, and other in-country experts who help inform their analyses.