The 'Cedar Revolution' in Lebanon, which was sparked by the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on 14 February 2005, was seen by many as an opportunity for Lebanon's fragile political system to move towards a more stable form of democracy. But contrary to these expectations, in the years since Syrian military withdrawal in April 2005, Lebanon has been plagued with sectarian and political unrest and conflict. Abbas Assi here explores the obstacles that impeded the democratic transition process and how subsequent events since 2005 (such as the passing of UNSCR 1559, the 2006 Hizbullah-Israel war and the Syrian conflict) have bolstered this trend. By looking at these, Assi examines how the intersection of the influence of external factors and powers with domestic conflicts has shaped the behaviour of political parties and has had implications on their ability to reach compromises and initiate democratic reforms. By analysing the impact of the intersection of domestic and external factors on democracy, this book is a vital reference for those studying politics of Lebanon and the Middle East more broadly.

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: 1,7, University of Essex, language: English, abstract: The political system in Lebanon remained paralyzed in 2015, leaving the presidency vacant since the expiration of the last term in May 2014, while extending the National Assembly’s term twice since 2013. Furthermore, due to the still ongoing civil war in Syria and the immediate threat of the so-called Islamic State, the country is facing a wave of more than one million registered Syrian refugees as well as a direct involvement in the conflict by the Islamist militant group and political party Hezbollah. The case of the Palestinian refugees permanently living in Lebanon for decades is a still long-lasting issue for the Lebanese society and is in need of setting a new concept for a successful integration of the Palestinians into the political framework of the country. The object of this paper is to work out the theoretical background of Lebanon’s “partly free” political system, giving a review on the country’s history from the period of the Ottoman Empire until now in the second part, then analyzing in the main part the various factors, which play an important role in the democratization process as well as apply the previously specified theories and approaches to the actual challenges the country is still facing in its political life. In addition to that, several reformation proposals will be critically described and interpreted in order to work out the quintessence of the challenges Lebanon has to cope with in its near future.

Lebanon. Series of articles on politics. Studies Lebanese society, economy and economic development. Impact of the maronite Church on the political system. Political leadership. Social structure. Government and political parties. Public administration. International relations. Political problems and change. Partly historical. References.

Aiming to contribute to the reader’s greater understanding of Lebanese government and politics, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the origin, development, and institutionalization of sectarian consociationalism in Lebanon. A recurrent proposition advanced in this book is that Lebanese sectarian consociationalism has been both a cure and a curse in the formulation of political settlements and institution building. On the one hand, and in contrast to many surrounding Arab regimes, consociational arrangements have provided the country with a relative democratic political life. A limited government with a strong confessional division of power and a built-in checks and balance mechanism prevented the emergence of dictatorship or monarchy. On the other hand, a chronic weak state has complicated efforts for nation building in favour of sectarian fragmentation, external interventions, and strong polarization that periodically brought the country to the verge of total collapse and civil war. While examining Lebanese sectarian politics of conflict and concession during different historic junctures many revelations are made that underlie the role of domestic and international forces shaping the country’s future. Presenting an implicit description of the power and functions of the various branches of government within the context of sectarian consociationalism, this book is an important introductory text for students of Lebanese Politics and Middle Eastern politics more broadly.

Pax Syriana provides readers with a broad picture of what has changed, and what has failed to change, in the Lebanese political system after the end of the civil war.

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2002 in the subject Politics - Region: Near East, Near Orient, grade: A, American University of Central Asia, language: English, abstract: Lebanon is a unique country of the Middle East. It is very ancient and it is located in such a way that once was called “the gate of the Middle East” . During centuries numerous conquerors invaded Lebanon to gain strategic leverage in regional dominance. There are three major religious groups - Maronites, Druzes, and Shiites – living in the country, of which Maronites are part of a Christian mainstream and Druzes and Shiites are of a Muslim one. Granting independence to Lebanon, the French wanted to secure the position of the Christians and not let it “be absorbed into a Syrian Muslim state.” Lebanon traditionally considered itself the only Christian country in the Arab world and was always backed up by France. The history of Lebanon was filled with religious and violent conflicts, which were inflamed by surrounding nations and often resolved by major powers. The antipathy among Maronites, Druzes, and Shiites was so strong that the solution had to be found urgently. To avoid conflicts among the different subcultures the French established the consociational democracy. Lebanon didn’t completely meet all the core principles of the consociational democracy and it consequently led to the civil war of 1975, to sectarian unrest and struggles for political and economic power. However, the results of the consociational democracy were the peace in Lebanon for thirty years, and the economic prosperity.

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Politics - Political systems in general and in comparison, grade: A, American University of Central Asia, course: Electoral Politics, language: English, abstract: In the beginning of the 21st century nobody spoke out loud about consociational democracy and how it should work in order to prosper the state. It is now possible to analyze the history of the countries, here Lebanon and Switzerland, as well as the profound works of social scientists, which deliberated about the effective implementation of the consociational democracy. Now it is also possible to point out the mistakes of the French mandate in Lebanon, which led to the disastrous results and draw some ideas of how the state could develop if all the core principles of consociational democracy were completed in a right way. In this particular research, Switzerland represents this ‘right way’.