I have, for several years, been working on the political and constitutional history of Liberia, and I, too, would like to know if others are presently working in this area. Below is a partial bibliography (somewhat dated).
Allen, Macon B. to Simon Greenleaf, 17 April 1847. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 5.
Becker-Donner, Etta. Hinterland Liberia. Trans. Winifred M. Deans. London: Blackie & Son, 1977.
Benedict, Samuel to Simon Greenleaf, 13 August 1842. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 3, Folder 2.
Benedict, Samuel to Simon Greenleaf, 7 March 1843. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 3, Folder 2.
Benedict, Samuel to Simon Greenleaf, 27 June 1846. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 3, Folder 2.
Benedict, Samuel to Simon Greenleaf, 4 April 1848. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 5.
Benson, Stephen A. to Simon Greenleaf, 4 April 1850. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 3, Folder 2.
Berkeley, Bill. Liberia: A Promise Betrayed. New York: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, 1986.
Beyan, Amos J. "The American Colonization Society and the Socio-Religious Characterization of Liberia: A Historical Perspective," Liberian Studies Journal, 10.2 (1984-85): 1-11.
Blamo, J. Bernard. "Nation-Building in Liberia: The Use of Symbols in National Integration." Liberian Studies Journal, 4.1 (1971-72): 21-30.
Boley, G. E. Saigbe. Liberia: The Rise and Fall of the First Republic. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.
Brown, Robert T. "Simon Greenleaf and the Liberian Constitution of 1847." Liberian Studies Journal, 9.2 (1980-81): 51-60.
Cassell, C. Abayomi. Liberia: History of the First African Republic. New York: Fountainhead, 1970.
Cole, Henry B. "The Press in Liberia." Liberian Studies Journal, 4.2 (1971-72): 147-155.
Cresson, Elliott to Simon Greenleaf, 15 February 1848. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 5.
Culp, Robert H. "Sources of Liberian Law." Liberian Law Journal, 2.2 (1966): 130-142.
Curry, Richard O. and Lawrence B. Goodheart. American Chameleon: Individualism in the Trans-National Context. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, ? (info on concept of freedom by freed slaves)
Daniels, W. C. Ekow. The Common Law in West Africa. London: Butterworths, 1964.
Dormu, Alfonso K. The Constitution of the Republic of Liberia and the Declaration of Independence, with Notes. New York: Exposition Press, 1970.
Dunn, D. Elwood. The Foreign Policy of Liberia during the Tubman Era, 1944-1971. London: Hutchinson Benham, 1979.
Dunn, D. Elwood, and S. Byron Tarr. Liberia: A National Polity in Transition. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1988.
Elias, T. Olawale. The Nature of African Customary Law. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1956.
Fahnbulleh, H. Boima, Jr. The Diplomacy of Prejudice: Liberia in International Politics, 1945-1970. New York: Vantage Press, 1985.
Fraenkel, Merran. Tribe and Class in Monrovia. London: Oxford University Press, 1964.
Fulton, Richard M. "The Kpelle Traditional Political System." Liberian Studies Journal, 1.1 (1968): 1-19.
Gershoni, Yekutiel. Black Colonialism: The Americo-Liberian Scramble for the Hinterland. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1985.
_____. "The Paradox of Church-State Relations in Liberia, 1847-1930." Liberian Studies Journal, 10.1 (1982-83): 67-82.
Greenleaf, Simon to J. J. Roberts [draft], 22 January 1851. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 15.
Greenleaf, Simon. Notes on Interview with Bishop Payne, 16 September 1851. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 15.
Greenleaf, Simon to John B. Russwurm [ms. copy], 19 July 1851. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 15.
Guannu, Joseph Saye, Compiler and Editor. The Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of Liberia. Hicksville, NY: Exposition Press, 1980.
Gurley, Ralph Randolph. Life of Jehudi Ashmun. Washington, DC: James C. Dunn, 1835.
Hlophe, Stephen S. Class, Ethnicity, and Politics in Liberia: A Class Analysis of Power Struggles in the Tubman and Tolbert Administrations from 1944-1975. Washington, DC: University Press of America, 1979.
Holsoe, Svend E. "A Study of the Relations Between Settlers and Indigenous Peoples in Western Liberia, 1821-1847." African Historical Studies, 4.2 (1971): 331-362.
Huberich, Charles Henry. The Political and Legislative History of Liberia. 2 Vols. New York: Central Book Company, 1947.
Innes, William. Liberia; or the Early History and Signal Preservation of the American Colony of Free Negroes on the Coast of Africa. Edinburgh: Waugh and Innes, 1831.
Johnson, Charles S. Bitter Canaan: The Story of the Negro Republic. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1987.
Johnston, Harry. Liberia. 2 Vols. London: Hutchinson, 1906.
Jones, Abeodu Bowen. "The Republic of Liberia," in J. F. A. Ajayi and M. Crowder, eds., History of West Africa (New York: Columbia University Press, 1973) 2: 308-343.
July, Robert. The Origins of Modern African Thought. New York: Praeger, 1967.
Konvitz, M. R., and M. L. Rosenzweig. "Liberia." In A. N. Allott, ed., Judicial and Legal Systems in Africa. 2d ed. London: Butterworths, 1970.
Liberty, C. E. Z. "Growth of the Liberian State: An Analysis of Its Historiography." Diss., Stanford University, 1977.
Liebenow, J. Gus. Liberia: The Evolution of Privilege. Ithica: Cornell University Press, 1969.
_____. Liberia: The Quest for Democracy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987.
Lowenkopf, Martin. Politics in Liberia: The Conservative Road to Development. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1976.
Lucas, Townsend M. "The Liberian Presidential Election of 1955." M.A. thesis, Howard University, 1960.
Lynch, Hollis R., Ed. Selected Letters of Edward Wilmot Blyden. Millwood, NY: KTO Press, 1978.
Mannion, Arthur James, Jr. "The Exclusion of Coerced Confessions in Common Law Countries: A Comparative Analysis." Liberian Law Journal, 2.1 (1966): 8-28.
Martin, Jane J. "How to Build a Nation: Liberian Ideas about National Integration in the Late Nineteenth Century." Liberian Studies Journal, 2.1 (1969): 15-42.
Massing, Michael. Best Friends: Violations of Human Rights in Liberia, America's Closest Ally in Africa. New York: Fund for Free Expression, 1986.
McLean, William to Simon Greenleaf, 10 February 1848. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 5.
Nesbit, William. Four Months in Liberia: Or African Colonization Exposed. Pittsburgh: J. T. Shryock, 1855.
Packard, A. S. to Simon Greenleaf, 23 July 1851. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 15.
Parnall, Theodore. "Liberia." InInternational Encyclopedia of Comparative Law Ed. Viktor Knapp. New York: Oceana Publications, 1972. 1: L25-L32.
Paine, Jonathan W. to Simon Greenleaf, 16 August 1840. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 5.
Prillaman, Jerry L. "Integration of Tribal Courts into the National Judiciary of Liberia: The Role of the Local Courts Advisor." Liberian Law Journal, 2.1 (1966): 43-67.
Roberts, J. J. to Joseph Tracy [extract], 16 January 1845. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 15.
Roberts, J. J. to Simon Greenleaf, 19 June 1846. Simon Greenleaf Ppaers, Harvard Law School Library. Box 4, Folder 5.
Roberts, Joseph Jenkins, Letter to William McLain, 20 June 1846. American Colonization Society Papers, Library of Congress. I, B, 31, 114862b.
Roberts, J. J. to Simon Greenleaf, 6 February 1847. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School, Box 4, Folder 5.
Roberts, J. J. to Simon Greenleaf, 30 September 1850. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box
Roberts, J. J. to Simon Greenleaf, 6 April 1852. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 15.
Rosenzweig, Margaret. "The Liberian Codification Project." Liberian Studies Journal, 2.2 (1970): 173-174.
Sands, C. Dallas. Legal Education in Liberia. New York: Institute of International Education, 1966.
Schneebaum, Steven M., and Jeffery Whalen. Human Rights in Liberia: A Preliminary Report Based on Two Trial Observer Missions. Washington, DC: International Human Rights Law Group, 1986.
Sherman, Mary Antoinette Brown. "Some Liberian Intellectuals in the Nineteenth Century: An Appreciation." Liberian Studies Journal, 6.2 (1975): 162-175.
Shick, Tom W. Behold the Promised Land: A History of Afro-American Settler Society in Nineteenth-Century Liberia. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980.
Sibley, James L., and D. Westermann. Liberia--Old and New. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1928.
Singler, John V. "Language in Liberia in the Nineteenth Century: The Settlers' Perspective." Liberian Studies Journal, 7.2 (1976-77): 73-85.
Smith, James Wesley. Sojourners in Search of Freedom: The Settlement of Liberia by Black Americans. Latham, MD: University Press of America, 1987.
Syfert, Dwight N. "The Origins of Privilege: Liberian Merchants, 1822-1847." Liberian Studies Journal, 6.2 (1975): 109-128.
Tracy, Joseph to Simon Greenleaf, 26 April 1845. Simon Greenleaf Papers, Harvard Law School. Box 1, Folder 5.
Twe, Didhwo. "Liberia: An American Responsibility," Annual of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 282 (July 1952): 105.
Wiley, Bell I., Ed. Slaves No More: Letters from Liberia, 1833-1869. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1980.
Williams, Samuel. Four Years in Liberia. Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1857.
Wreh, Tuan. The Love of Liberty: The Rule of William V. S. Tubman in Liberia, 1944-1971. London: C. Hurst & Company, 1976.
Yancy, Ernest Jerome. Historical Lights of Liberia's Yesterday and Today. Chicago: Aldine, 1934.
A good place to start might be:
Kramer, Reed (1995, July) Liberia: A Casualty of the Cold War's End? CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington) Africa Notes, No. 147.
Date sent: Thu, 24 Aug 1995
From: William Storey, Harvard University
<storey@husc.harvard.edu>
There are a couple of canonical survey texts which will provide a good introduction - Gus Liebenow's Liberia and Christopher Fyfe's Sierra Leone. For an introduction to the current crisis, a good place to start would be to look at the back issues of West Africa magazine.