ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the empirical experience of state-building in post-conflict Liberia. It examines how the institutional strategy of systemic denial of access to education serves to protect the elite's hegemony on political–economic power. Transfer of knowledge through expatriate nationals (TOKTEN) serves to demonstrate how a narrow segment of the population was given preference by international actors and how they became regarded as partners in state-building by the International Community (IC). The IC shapes the course of political power bargaining by choosing its partners in state-building. In the state-building state, low human capacity and high levels of illiteracy continue to hamper economic activities and limit wider participation in political processes and state-building. In post-conflict Liberia, the systemic denial of access to education continues, albeit in soft terms. Furthermore, the education sector consistently remains one of the most ineffective and corrupt public service sectors in Liberia.
