Consociational Democracy and The Prospects of Agonistic Peace: A Mixed Method Study of the Effects of Lebanese Power-Sharing from 2006 to 2022

Abstract: Abstract The thesis highlights the need for a broader understanding of consociational democracy and its relationship with government immobilism and agonistic peace. Being a mixed study of the period 2006 to 2022, it suggests that the existing theory of consociational democracy, as proposed by Arend Lijphart (1969) overlooks the cyclical nature of these factors in Lebanon. The theis argues that government immobilism in Lebanon reinforces conflictual identities and the consociational political apparatus, thus calling for an expansion of Lijphart's theory to incorporate its cyclical aspects. Furthermore, the thesis suggests that understanding the effects of consociational democracy on agonistic peace is crucial. Government immobilism, which can be perpetuated by the consociational democratic structure, hampers the attainment of thick recognition between parties and undermines institutional inclusion, which is a key component of agonistic peace theory. Furthermore, the thesis argues that consociational democracy, reliant on elite-level consensus making, limits anti-hegemonic discourse.