Content area
Full Text
This paper measures political legitimacy in postwar Lebanon. In connection with this several aspects such as political efficacy, government responsiveness and satisfaction with public policy have been tested. The data were collected between March and April 1998 and come from a nationwide survey of 774 Lebanese. The findings disclose a Lebanese lack of politically efficacious feelings and indicate, also, the weakness of government responsiveness. Judgments about government performance differ about the policy area: discontent with economic, welfare and social policies contrasts with more a positive evaluation of public order and foreign policy. Finally, respondents exhibit little support for the existing government and would prefer to have its current form changed. The study derives its importance from the fact that billionaire Rafik Hariri, a threetime former premier, was again designated prime minister on the 22nd of October. 2000. two years after being ousted from power and blamed for the acute economic crisis. Hariri, who was denounced for his ambitious program of political reforms and economic policy during his first period in office between 1992 and 1998, is expected to reverse the country's economic decline under the outgoing government. While there are strong indicators that I Hariri will continue his previous policy, the survey findings indicate the shortcomings that should be remedied if the new government desires to overcome the country's current political, economic and social problems.
Key Worth: Lebanon, political legitimacy, Rafik Hariri, survey of Lebanese political attitudes, Lebanese political problems, Taif Accord's aftermath.
1. Lebanon's Postwar Politics
With the conclusion of the Taif Agreement in 1989, Lebanon succeeded in overcoming 17 years of civil war. In fact, Lebanese parliamentary deputies met in Saudi Arabia under Arab sponsorship and signed the "Document of National Understanding" or what is commonly known as the Taif Accord. Based on the National Pact of 1943, this agreement altered the Lebanese constitution, introducing a new formula for the political distribution of offices. Interconfessional communal living, democracy and a liberal economic system were the basic principles provided to the state. In addition to the introduction of internal reforms, the new constitution planned to extend Lebanese sovereignty over all its territory, ridding Lebanon of Israeli occupation and working out a formula for future relations between Lebanon and Syria.1
The implementation of...