Political Mobilization in Heterogeneous Societies Under a Consociational Political System: A Comparative Study of Identities and Demonstrations in Iraq, Lebanon and Iran

Abstract

This article is a comparative study of the influences that consociational democracies have on political mobilization. By drawing on theories on collective action, social movements and ethnopolitics, it offers a novel explanation of how the consociational political system affects oppositional political mobilization. The nature of the political system has a strong causal relationship with the identity of the political mobilization. While some political systems generate national oppositional political mobilization, consociational democracies create a divisive environment that prevents cross-sectarian mobilization. Three case studies were examined to test the theory: Iraq, Lebanon and Iran. These countries share many similarities in terms of economic conditions, and social diversity but differ in political mobilization. While political mobilization in Iraq and Lebanon has mostly represented a particular sect within the society at different intervals, Iran, by contrast, witnessed more nationalistic political movements.