Civila samhällets utmaningar i pluralistiska stater. Libanon: en stat - en splittrad nation

Sammanfattning: The current trend towards globalisation and democratisation has made the theories of politics in pluralistic societies, and how to make them work, of particular interest and concern. Lijphart's theory of consociational democracy is an important influence in this field. At the same time the importance of civil society in transition studies and democratisation processes has been reinforced over the last thirty years. However, the complex political situation that plural societies face, creates obstacles for a healthy civil society. This thesis is based on a case study of Lebanon, a country with deep ethnic divisions and a government that resembles a consociational democracy. The aim of this thesis is to give a picture of how a consociational democracy influences the civil society's ability to function in a plural society. We find that the case constitutes an example of how consociational democracy, a weak state and patron-client networks ruin the possibility of having a healthy and bridging civil society.