Consociational Democracy in Lebanon: Modern Challenges and Development Prospects

This article explores some key problems of the organization and operation of the Lebanese confessional political system. The study is carried out within the framework of the comparative approach and, in essence, is a comparison of the Lebanese realities with the ideal type of consociational democracy in order to identify country specific features and find ways to overcome the growing instability. Arend Lijphart’s consociational theory is used as the main analytical tool. Based on the analysis of the formation and development of the Lebanese consociational system, the study identifies its historical roots, as well as its strengths and weaknesses. The article examines the internal and external causes of the Lebanese political crises and assesses the possible ways of evolution of the country’s political regime, including the prospects for the transformation of consociational democracy into a civil one. When applied to Lebanon, the terms “consociationalism” and “political confessionalism” are used as synonyms.