Confessionalism (politics)

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Confessionalism is a system of government that is a de jure mix of religion and politics. It typically entails distributing political and institutional power proportionally among confessional communities.

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Debate

Proponents of confessionalism[ who? ] cite it as an effective way to secure the peaceful co-existence of diverse religious and ethnic communities by empowering each according to its "weight" in the region. However, critics point out that such a system may actually deepen conflict between ethnic groups. They argue that whichever group holds the most political power may use government to favour itself at the expense of other groups, or even to oppress rival groups. Also, as demographics change, the positions and power held by a particular group may no longer appropriately reflect the size of that group.

Debate over confessionalism raises similar issues to those facing consociationalism, of which confessionalism is one kind.[ original research? ]

Governmental structure

Some countries' political system distribute power across major religions in the country. This can be required by the constitution or through unwritten tradition.

In the politics of Iraq, following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the occupying administration introduced a system where power was shared between the three main ethno-religious groups: Shia Muslim Arabs, Sunni Muslim Arabs and Kurds. The constitution of Iraq encouraged such power-sharing, due to the parliamentary system and the initial requirement for a super-majority to elect the President. Although not explicitly required in the constitution, political tradition has continued to date for the President to be a Kurd, the Speaker of Parliament a Sunni Muslim Arab and the Prime Minister a Shi'ite Muslim Arab. [1]

The repartition of assembly seats on a confessional basis in the Middle East was invented by the Ottoman Empire (e.g. in the Ottoman Parliament) and continued in several post-Ottoman countries with reserved seats for non-Muslim, namely Christian, minorities (Syria, Jordan, Iraq), or for all religious communities including Muslim subgroups and Christian churches (Lebanon). A similar system prevails in Iran for the Armenian, Assyrian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities.

In Lebanon, the concept of confessionalism holds an important political meaning, since political power and governmental bureaucracy are organized according to religious confessions (as it happened in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries before). For example, the National Pact (an unwritten covenant) and later the Taif Agreement provide for a Maronite Christian president, a Sunni Muslim prime minister, and a Shia Muslim speaker of parliament.

Although the system was meant to be a temporary solution "until such time as the Chamber enacts new electoral laws on a non-confessional basis", [2] more than 80 years later, it remains the system of government. All posts in government and seats in the legislature are apportioned amongst different religious groups according to a political agreement, as the relative demographic weight of those groups is unknown. [3] The constitution of 1926, amended after the Taif Agreement of 1990 and the Doha agreement of 2008 specified that there should be 54 Christian deputies and 54 Muslim deputies, even though in practice there are 64 deputies each. [4] In addition, within those two groups, seats should be shared according to the demographic weight of each community. [5]

The Lebanese constitution also guarantees segmental autonomy to 18 recognized communities in the country in domains such as education. [6] Lebanon also presents other characteristics of confessionalism. Since 2005 Lebanese politics has been polarized around two trans-religious coalitions [7] with the majority never able to govern alone. There is, however, another section of the constitution that addresses the development of outside parties not represented by popular support.

Political parties

In some countries there are political parties whose main ideology is based on a religion, such as Christian democratic parties and Islamic political parties.

In the politics of the Netherlands the term "confessionalism" refers to any political ideology based on religion. A traditional norm in society, extending to many facets of cultural life, termed pillarisation. Dutch parties usually labelled as confessionalist are the Christian Union and the Reformed Political Party, both exclusively Protestant.

Political parties with religious ideology are sometimes banned on the grounds of promoting violence and hatred (e.g. Vlamms Blok and Batasuna), altering the national character, or having outside support. [8]

In some cases bans are written into the constitution. Bulgaria’s Constitution prohibits religious political parties. [9] The Constitution of Turkey states the country is secular, and the constitutional court ruled that the Islamist Virtue Party was unconstitutional. The political parties in Portugal are forbidden from using a name that has religious connotation, although the parties are still allowed to adopt a religious ideology, thus allowing the formation of CDS – People's Party. [10]

See also

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Sectarianism in Lebanon refers to the formal and informal organization of Lebanese politics and society along religious lines. It has been formalized and legalized within state and non-state institutions and is inscribed in its constitution. Lebanon recognizes 18 different sects: 67.6% of the population is Muslim, 32.4% is Christian, the majority being Maronites Catholics and Greek Orthodox, while 4.52% is Druze. The foundations of sectarianism in Lebanon date back to the mid-19th century during Ottoman rule. It was subsequently reinforced with the creation of the Republic of Lebanon in 1920 and its 1926 constitution, and in the National Pact of 1943. In 1990, with the Taif Agreement, the constitution was revised but did not structurally change aspects relating to political sectarianism. The dynamic nature of sectarianism in Lebanon has prompted some historians and authors to refer to it as "the sectarian state par excellence" because it is a mixture of religious communities and their myriad sub-divisions, with a constitutional and political order to match.

References

  1. ↑ "Iraq Elects Pro-Iran Sunni As Parliament Speaker". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  2. ↑ Lebanese constitution, article 24
  3. ↑ Harb, Imad (March 2006). "Lebanon's Confessionalism: Problems and Prospects". United States Institute of Peace. Archived from the original on 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2006-07-30.
  4. ↑ Lebanese constitution, article 24 subsection a
  5. ↑ Lebanese constitution, article 24 subsection b
  6. ↑ Lebanese constitution, articles 9 and 10
  7. ↑ Confessionalism and electoral reform in Lebanon, section 3, Arda Arsenian Ekmekji, Ph.D.
  8. ↑ Rosenblum, Nancy L. (January 2007). "Banning Parties: Religious and Ethnic Partisanship in Multicultural Democracies". ResearchGate. Archived from the original on 2019-09-10. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  9. ↑ "Constitution". National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. Archived from the original on 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  10. ↑ "Constitution of the Portuguese Republic - Part I". Diário da República Eletrónico. Archived from the original on 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
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