The limits of secular political mobilization in Lebanon

Abstract

In this thesis, I address the question of political mobilization in Lebanon, and try to understand: how can the theories of social mobilization contribute to explain the inability of secular parties to mobilize people in Lebanon in the post-Taef era? Why are secular political parties not able to mobilize for social change in Lebanon? And what are the underlying factors for the rigidity and resilience of the Lebanese political system? In the aftermath of the Civil War in Lebanon, peace was restored in 1990 when political elites agreed to the Taef Accord. The Post-Civil War era was intended as a transitory period into a more representative political system. Since the 1990s, secular political parties and groups, such as Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) and the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP), tried to introduce reforms to the political system (e.g. electoral law), or to the civil fabric (e.g. civil marriage). Those initiatives failed on a background of national debates and fierce opposition from the political and religious strata. Using literature review on power sharing systems, electoral design, political parties, clientelism and sectarian identity, I draw a proposition that secular political parties in Lebanon are not able to mobilize the public due to lack of access to institutions and public services mutually reinforced by the resilience of sectarian identities. I test my proposition using Social Mobilization Theory (SMT) as a theoretical framework. Furthermore, I map the existing political parties in Lebanon and analyze elections results for the years 2000, 2005 and 2009 to confirm conclusions. Findings demonstrate that the resilience of sectarian politics in Lebanon resides in a vicious circle involving: power-access to resources, political elites-clients, sectarian electoral laws and activated religious identities. As a result, secular political parties lack partisan engagement, and are unable to reach a critical mass in government institutions. Consequently, they are either marginalized or annexe