ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to provide a brief introduction to the Lebanese political system and to identify the major issues which have dominated the political scene, both as a background to the analysis of political elites and of the politics of elections which follow. The treatment of the material here may differ somewhat from that given to the two other countries dealt with in this volume, first, by relying on material drawn from a longer period of time, and second, by describing issues which arise in a wider context than that of the electoral arena itself. The main reason we have expanded the scope of our enquiry in the case of Lebanon is that the expectation that the major issues of a political system will emerge from the electoral process is based on assumptions which are not fully met in the Lebanese case. These include the assumption that the basic framework of society is at least roughly worked out and that, although subject to change, there is a widespread agreement about the nature of the society, i.e. enough common ground to permit the political system, especially through elections, to provide the basis for the development of a common policy and to establish priorities for society. As we hope to show, some features of the Lebanese system are designed to prevent this from taking place, and for other reasons the Lebanese system fails to produce a common policy or set of programme priorities.
