Original scientific paper
CRISES, CIVIL WAR AND BREAKDOWN OF CONFESSIONAL DEMOCRACY IN LEBANON
Borna Zgurić
orcid.org/0000-0002-6388-0098
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The paper shows the development of consociational democracy in Lebanon
from independence until today, and mutually intertwined internal and external
factors that affected (and still affect) the Lebanese political system. The paper
is divided into three sections. The first section is focused on the independence
from France in 1943, and the establishment of the “First Republic”.
That same year, leading Lebanese Christian and Muslim politicians came to
an unwritten understanding, a kind of Lebanese gentlemen’s agreement, which
later became known as the “National Pact”. This agreement was not aimed at
establishing the foundations of Lebanese confessional democracy, but despite
that, it established the foundations for a political system, which regulates the
interconfessional relations in Lebanon even today. The second section of the
paper deals with the crises of 1952 and 1958, which tested the Lebanese state
and society, and the Civil War of 1975-1989 that tore Lebanon apart. The 1989
Ta’if Accord officially ended the war and marked the beginning of the “Second
Republic”. The conclusion is a short discussion focused on the future of
Lebanon, taking into consideration the current state of the region.
Keywords
Lebanon; Consociational Democracy; Confessionalism; Civil War; Breakdown of Democracy
Hrčak ID:
107677
URI
Publication date:
23.9.2013.
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