Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-pd9xq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T23:04:04.715Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Limits of Electoral Engineering in Divided Societies: Elections in Postwar Lebanon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2006

Bassel F. Salloukh
Bassel F. Salloukh
Affiliation:
American University of Sharjah
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. Electoral engineering determines prospects for centripetal politics in postconflict societies. Lebanon's postwar elections have been contested by interethnic electoral alliances in multi-ethnic electoral districts. Interethnic coalitions, vote pooling and bargaining have structured the results of these elections, as have the electoral laws demarcating the boundaries of electoral districts. Democratization, peace building and ethnic harmony have been the main victims of these cross-ethnic alliances, however. This paper seeks to explain this Lebanese puzzle by examining the institutional determinants of cross-ethnic electoral alliances in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 parliamentary elections.

Résumé. Dans les sociétés post-conflictuelles, l'ingénierie électorale détermine l'éventualité de politiques centripètes. Les élections libanaises d'après-guerre se sont disputées entre des alliances électorales interethniques dans des districts électoraux multiethniques. Les coalitions interethniques, le “ vote pooling ” et le marchandage, de même que les lois électorales qui déterminaient la configuration des circonscriptions électorales, ont structuré les résultats de ces élections. Or, la démocratisation, la construction de la paix et l'harmonie ethnique ont été les victimes principales de ces alliances interethniques. La présente analyse vise à expliquer ce paradoxe libanais en étudiant les déterminants institutionnels des alliances électorales interethniques lors des élections parlementaires de 1992, 1996 et 2000.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , September 2006 , pp. 635 - 655
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andeweg, Rudy B. 2000. “Consociational Democracy.” Annual Review of Political Science 3: 509–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
‘Assaf, Talal and Dany Haddad. 2000. Intikhabat 2000: Al-Ma‘loum wal Majhul. Beirut: Mu'assasat Halim Z‘inni.
Atallah, Tony. 1996. Tiqaniyyat al-Tazwir al-Intikhabi wa Subul Mukafahatiha. Beirut: Al-Markaz al-Lubnani lil-Dirasaat.
Ayoub, Husayn. 2000. “Al-Kitla al-Durziyya Tu‘awwem al-La'iha al-Jumblatiyya.” as-Safir. http://www.assafir.com (September 15, 2000).
Farshakh, George. 2006. Al-Fadel Shalaq: Tajribati ma‘ al-Hariri. Beirut: Al-Dar al-‘Arabiya lil-‘Oloum.
Haddad, Simon. 2002. “The Political Transformation of the Maronites of Lebanon: From Dominance to Accommodation.” Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 8: 27–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanf, Theodor. 1993. Coexistence in Wartime Lebanon: Decline of a State and Rise of a Nation. London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.
Horowitz, Donald L. 1985. Ethnic Groups in Conflict. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Horowitz, Donald L. 1990. “Making Moderation Pay: The Comparative Politics of Ethnic Conflict Management.” In Conflict and Peacemaking in Multiethnic Societies, ed. Joseph V. Montville. Toronto: Lexington Books.
Horowitz, Donald L. 2003. “Electoral Systems: A Premier for Decision Makers.” Journal of Democracy 14: 115–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hudson, Michael C. 1966. “The Electoral Process and Political Development in Lebanon.” Middle East Journal 20: 173–186.Google Scholar
Hudson, Michael C. 1988. “The Problem of Authoritative Power in Lebanese Politics: Why Consociationalism Failed.” In Lebanon: A History of Conflict and Consensus, eds. Nadim Shehadi and Dana Haffar Mills. London: The Centre for Lebanese Studies and I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd.
el-Huss, Salim. 2001. Lil-Haqiqa wa-l-Tarikh: Tajarub al-Hukm Ma Bayn 1998 wa 2000. Beirut: Sharikat al-Matbou‘at lil-Tawzi‘ wa-l-Nashr.
Kassir, Samir. 2005. “Turidouna Tamthilan?” an-Nahar, May 13 (internet edition).
El Khazen, Farid. 1993. “The Making and Unmaking of Lebanon's Political Elites from Independence to Taif.” Beirut Review 6: 53–67.Google Scholar
El Khazen, Farid. 1998. Lebanon's First Postwar Parliamentary Election, 1992: An Imposed Choice. Oxford: Centre for Lebanese Studies.
El Khazen, Farid. 2000. Intikhabat Lubnan Ma Ba‘d al-Harb 1992, 1996, 2000: Dimuqratiyya Bila Khiyyar. Beirut: Dar al-Nahar lil-Nashr.
El Khazen, Farid. 2003. “The Postwar Political Process: Authoritarianism by Diffusion.” In Lebanon in Limbo: Postwar Society and State in an Uncertain Regional Environment, eds. Theodor Hanf and Nawaf Salam. Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft.
Lijphart, Arend. 1977. Democracy in Plural Societies: A Comparative Exploration. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lijphart, Arend. 1990. “The Power-Sharing Approach.” In Conflict and Peacemaking in Multiethnic Societies, ed. Joseph V. Montville. Toronto: Lexington Books.
Lijphart, Arend. 2004. “Constitutional Design for Divided Societies.” Journal of Democracy 15: 96–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyons, Terence. 2002. “The Role of Postsettlement Elections.” In Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements, ed. Stephen John Stedman, Donald Rothchild and Elizabeth M. Cousens. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Mansour, Albert. 1993. Al Inqilab ‘Ala-l-Taif. Beirut: Dar al-Jadid.
Naser, Nqoula. 2004. Intikhabat Rabi‘ 2005. Beirut: Dar al-Mourad.
Nasif, Nqoula and Rousana Boumonsef. 1996. Al-Masrah Wal-Kawalis: Intikhabat 96 fi Fusuliha. Beirut: Dar al-Nahar lil-Nashr.
Przeworski, Adam. 1991. Democracy and the Market: Political and Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Reilly, Benjamin. 2000/01. “Democracy, Ethnic Fragmentation, and Internal Conflict: Confused Theories, Faulty Data, and the ‘Crucial Case’ of Papua New Guinea.” International Security 25: 162–85.Google Scholar
Reilly, Benjamin. 2002. “Electoral Systems for Divided Societies.” Journal of Democracy 13: 156–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, Andrew, ed. 2002. The Architecture of Democracy: Constitutional Design, Conflict Management, and Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Reynolds, Andrew. 2005. “Constitutional Medicine.” Journal of Democracy 16: 54–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, Andrew and Ben Reilly. 2002. The International IDEA Handbook of Electoral System Design. Stockholm: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
Sabra, Hassan. 2005. “Jamil al-Sayyed: Al-Isha‘a al-Lati Kanat Tukheif al-Lubnaniyyin.” al-Shiraa. http://www.alshiraa.com (May 9, 2005).
Sa‘d, ‘Abdo. 2005. Al-Intikhabat al-Niyabiyya li-‘Am 2005: Qira'aat wa Nata'ej. Beirut: Markaz Beirut lil-Abhath wa-l-Ma‘loumat.
Saghiyé, Nizar and Rana Saghiyé. 2004. Iqtirahat min Ajl Islah al-Nidham al-Intikhabi fi Lubnan. Beirut: Dar al-Nahar lil-Nashr.
Salam, Nawaf. 2004. “Islah al-Nidham al-Intikhabi.” In Khiyarat Lubnan, ed. Nawaf Salam. Beirut: Dar al-Nahar lil-Nashr.
Salem, Paul. 1996. “Al-Nidham al-Murakab: Tamthil Awsa‘ wa Ihya’ Lil-Khitab al-Siyasi al-Watani.” In Iqtirahat fi Sabil Nidham Intikhabi Jadid Awfar ‘Adlan wa Afdal Tamthilan, eds. Paul Salem, Nawaf Salam and ‘Isam Slayman. Beirut: Dar al-Jadid.
Salibi, Kamal. 1988. A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Salman, Faysal. 2006. “Qala Li Rafiq el-Hariri: Hafez el-Asad Talabani wa Lahoud Aqsani.” as-Safir. http://www.assafier.com (January 12, 2006).
al-Sha‘er, Rabi‘. 2005. “Al-Intikhabat al-Niyabiyya: ‘Aysh Mushtarak am Haymana Mutlaqa?” an-Nahar. http://www.annaharonline.com/htd/TAHKIK050519-1.HTM (May 19, 2005).
Slayman, ‘Isam. 1996. “Li-Mujtama‘ Murakab Nidham Intikhabi Murakab.” In Iqtirahat fi Sabil Nidham Intikhabi Jadid Awfar ‘Adlan wa Afdal Tamthilan, eds. Paul Salem, Nawaf Salam and ‘Isam Slayman. Beirut: Dar al-Jadid.
Stedman, Stephen John. 1997. “Spoiler Problems in Peace Processes.” International Security 22: 5–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stedman, Stephen John. 2001. “International Implementation of Peace Agreements in Civil Wars.” In Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict, eds. Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.