Problems of Lebanese democracy: Costs of the confessional system

The article deals with the diffi culties associated with the confessional system of government in Lebanon; the key characteristics of consociative democracy in Lebanon and its diff erences from other democratic systems are analyzed. A consociation is a system of governance that grants members of various faiths certain rights and political representation in government. In Lebanon, the confessional system was introduced in 1943 and has since played a key role in the country’s political system. The author of the article considers Lebanon as a consociative democracy and discusses the features of the confessional system of government. He also analyzes the problems associated with the application of consociative democracy in Lebanon, including restrictions on freedom of expression. In addition, the risks and consequences of consociationalism in a confessional context are discussed, such as skewed representation and preallocation of seats. The infl uence of the division of power on the stability of the Lebanese political system is considered. The division of power into executive, legislative and judicial branches is one of the key features of a democratic system of government. However, there are problems in Lebanon with a lack of effi ciency and transparency in each of these branches of government, as well as cooperation between them. It is concluded that highly institutionalized consociative arrangements can lead to institutional instability of the state. Attention is drawn to negative confessional narratives at the local and regional levels and the conclusions that can be drawn from them are given. In general, the difficulties associated with the confessional system of government in Lebanon are revealed, and the influence of the division of power on the stability of the country’s political system is analyzed.

Lebanon