Lebanon : an exemplary consociational democracy state and its eventual failure

The consociational paradigm of power sharing, which was developed in parts of modern Lebanon (Mount Lebanon) in the late 16th century, is characterized not only by the presence of many religious denominations, which is not unique in the Middle East. The exceptions are the proportions of minorities sharing power. Over the centuries, and especially from the second half of the 19th century, the Christian Maronite community played a dominant role in Mount Lebanon, forming together with other Christian denominations the vast majority in the area in question. The model of the power sharing developed on its basis, promoted by Lijphart, functioned for Lebanon relatively effectively until 1967, despite external and internal obstacles and problems in the functioning of the multi-denominational state. The end of the sixties and the first half of the seventies of the 20th century brought about the erosion of this system, and from 1975 it could not be implemented due to the fact that Lebanon essentially became a failed state for the next fifteen years, and then a state dependent not only on the occupying Syria, but also on armed groups forming a state within the state and exposing Lebanon to retaliation by Israel. Lebanese consociational democracy is presented as an example of a system based on segmental autonomy, proportional representation of communal and/or religious groups/sects, and relatively continuously preserved democratic stability. Nevertheless, the last decade brought a shift in power sharing in that country, caused by erosion of the consociational system. The main factors of that situation could be: a serious incongruity between the country’s socioeconomic and political development leading almost to collapse of the state, cultural differences and the clash of incompatible values, the role of the elites in the war and militarization of the ethnic conflict, political immobilism.