Africa & Middle East

Gambia

Political journey

Independent from Britain in 1965, the Gambia was led by Dawda Jawara until a 1994 coup brought Yahya Jammeh to power for 22 years of repressive rule. When he lost the 2016 election and refused to leave, West African troops forced him out. Adama Barrow has led a fragile democratic transition since.

Gambia today

Its current leader’s position on the ten Caucus dimensions.

💰EconomyLeaning free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityLeaning authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationSlightly nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentSlightly nature-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologySlightly tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceCentered on war and peace
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismCentered on interventionism
Non-interventionistInterventionist

Who leads Gambia today

Portrait of Adama Barrow

Adama Barrow

President of the Gambia, 2017 to present

A real-estate developer who beat long-time dictator Yahya Jammeh in 2016 and has since led a fragile democratic transition, with a stalled new constitution.

Adama Barrow sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: leaning free market and leaning authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly traditional on culture, strongly religious on religion and leaning authoritarian on liberty and authority. The profile is close to the middle on war and peace and interventionism.

Full profile of Adama Barrow →

Political views closest to Gambia’s leadership

Christian democracyBlends Christian social teaching, a social market economy and European cooperation.99%Green conservatismSees protecting land, beauty and heritage as conservative values.98%One-nation conservatismA paternalist conservatism holding that the better off owe duties to the poor and to…98%Social conservatismDefends the traditional family, religion and moral norms in law and society.97%

Countries with similar leadership

Ranked by how close their current leaders are on the ten dimensions.

LiberiaAfrica & Middle East99%FijiAsia & Oceania99%TongaAsia & Oceania99%MalawiAfrica & Middle East99%

Country histories are short summaries. Positions are simplified estimates of the leaders included in Caucus as of October 2026, and percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.