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Recentering the public : three studies on programmatic development in Lebanon
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Florence : European University Institute, 2024
EUI; SPS; PhD Thesis
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VIERLINGER, Julian, Recentering the public : three studies on programmatic development in Lebanon, Florence : European University Institute, 2024, EUI, SPS, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/77314
Abstract
Clientelism –– generally contrasted with programmatic politics –– is a pervasive challenge to democratic development. The demise of clientelism substantively necessitates citizens to conceive of their interest as involving public goods, and to set aside clientpatron norms and loyalties in favour of a belief in political rights and equality. The three studies presented in this dissertation investigate two possible engines of programmatization –– one operating inside representative institutions, and one trying to complement them –– namely: shocks to collective wellbeing, and collective deliberation in democratic citizen assemblies. The studies are situated in Lebanon, a country long ruled by an entrenched elite of former warlords and oligarchs anchoring their reign in the weaponization of confessional cleavages and systemic clientelism. Study Nr. I examines the electoral impact of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, widely perceived to be caused by systemic corruption. By analyzing neighborhood-level exposure to the explosion and its e↵ects on voting patterns in the 2022 elections, the study finds that higher exposure to the blast increased support for anti-establishment and new entrant parties running on decidedly programmatic agendas, and decreased loyalty to the regime. Studies Nr. II and III , which build on two original survey experiments fielded on a nationally representative sample of Lebanese citizens, investigate the potential of deliberative citizen assemblies (DCAs) to foster programmatic politics in Lebanon. Study Nr. II assesses legitimacy perceptions towards DCAs, and finds that while DCAs are accorded higher legitimacy scores than oligarchic elite policy making, citizens still prefer representative institutions in principle, regardless of their disillusionment with their current functioning. This said, in international comparison, DCA legitimacy perceptions are unusually high. Study Nr. III directly investigates citizens’ willingness to participate in and approval of DCAs –– both in categoric terms, and via analysing verbatim responses. We reveal significant skepticism towards DCAs fuelled fundamentally by distrust in institutions, and lacks of political ecacy. Furthermore, results indicate a disconnect between principal approval of DCAs, and willingness to participate in them, fuelled by the fact that political participation comes at various costs.
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Defence date: 03 October 2024
Examining Board: Prof. Miriam Golden (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Elias Dinas (European University Institute); Prof. Natalia Garbiras-Diaz (Harvard Business School); Prof. Steven Hertog (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Examining Board: Prof. Miriam Golden (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Elias Dinas (European University Institute); Prof. Natalia Garbiras-Diaz (Harvard Business School); Prof. Steven Hertog (London School of Economics and Political Science)