A PARALYZED DEMOCRACY:

THE LEBANESE CASE

Abstract

In 2019, protests imploded in various parts of the world. In Lebanon, an increase in tariffs triggered widespread demonstrations that united, for the first time in history, its religious communities against the country’s injustices. Despite the government’s efforts to serve the population, it became evident that their problems are associated with the political system adopted since the independence of Lebanon. Confessionalism created structural obstacles in its democracy that paralyze, corrupted, and make its population apathetic. The present article, therefore, seeks to analyze Lebanese confessional democracy, and present its problems, such as the absence of opposition, the fragility of political parties, electoral manipulations, restrictions on political rights, and high rates of abstention.