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Amal Hamdan

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Thesis Title: Exclusion and Civl War: The Impact of the Electoral System on Destabalizing Consociational Arrangements in Lebanon 

 

This thesis examines how electoral system design can destabilise consociational arrangements by using Lebanon as a case study. In my evaluation of why consociationalism has periodically collapsed in Lebanon I argue that it is not consociationalism in itself to blame but rather the destabalizing impact of the electoral system on consociational arrangements. The very first legislative electoral law was introduced in 1922 and subsequent reforms since then have been key to tensions and periodic violence. Specifically, I demonstrate that the electoral system and related laws have contributed to instability and conflict in two ways:

1-Not all consociations are stable. Liberal consociational arrangements are recognised to be far more stable than their corporate counterparts, which have proven to be recipes for violence. Building on Andrew Reynolds (2005), Brendan O'Leary and John McGarry's (2004) proposition that liberal consociations are stable while corporate consocaitions are more likely to collapse, I argue that the electoral system introduced and cemented corporate rather than liberal consociational elements into both elecroral politics and political representation.

2-It is widely recognised that inclusion is a cornerstone for stable consociations while exclusion breeds violence. In Lebanon the electoral system has been deliberately designed to constrict the effective political participation of vast amounts of voters and consequently, excluded broad segments of society. Arguably, therefore, an electoral system that enables broad exclusion will faciliate the collapse of a consociational arrangement. Using empirical evidence of quantative data, I map the demographic shifts in electoral districts from 1952 until 2015 to demonstrate that three electoral variables - the electoral formula, district magnitude and redistricting - have been used to manipulate electoral outcomes and undermine effective political participation through vote dilution. Electoral laws have been consistently engineered to dilute the voting strength of both confessional and political components in society, resulting in exclusions that have resulted in tensions and conflict. 

Biographical details

Amal was a Middle East-based journalist for 12 years before embarking on a career change. As a former senior producer for Aljazeera television, she covered key Middle Eastern developments, including the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Syria's 2005 withdrawal from Lebanon, Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon and subsequent political and military developments until 2010. But instead of covering conflicts, she wanted to play an active and direct role in regulating conflicts. In 2011 she earned an MA in Conflict Resolution in Divided Socities from King's College London and passed with distinction. She won the Ulrich Simon Prize, awarded annually to an MA student with the best overall performance within the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and the Shelford Prize, awarded annually to an MA student who has shown the best performance in the study of religion. 

Before returning to King's to start her PhD in 2013, Amal gained considerable teaching experience at the Lebanese American University (LAU) in Beirut. She designed and taught four undergraduate modules from 2012-2013, including Conflict in Syria. She was also the logistics manager for a USAID-funded media training programme for Iraqi journalists at LAU's Institute for Media Training and Research. 

In 2013 she won the Walton scholarship, awarded for academic excellence to two postgraduate students in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies along with the King's Continuation Scholarship. 

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

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