Administrative reforms in pluralistic societies : the case of Lebanon.

This dissertation examines the processes and dynamics of administrative reform in the Lebanese multi-confessional context. It explores whether these processes exhibit special features or characteristics and the extent to which they are conditioned by the realities of the Lebanese pluralistic environment. The orientation in this thesis is indeed consistent with recent writings in the administrative reform literature, which emphasize the contextual distinctiveness of administration and reform in each country and the need to account for embedded contextual differences. The research thus attempts to place Lebanese administrative reform in a specific historical, cultural, and political frame of reference and link it to the realities of pluralism and sectarian politics in Lebanon. Further, the research undertakes an in-depth case study examination of two adrninistrtive ectocs (tee a&3 ad &i g greater insight into post-war Lebanese reform patterns and dynamics. The research highlights the complexity of administrative reform and the fact that reform endeavors are invariably conditioned by a multitude of embedded and contingent factors, cultural, political and economic. The research also suggests the potential influence of the regional and international environments on country-specific programs of planned change. Indeed, the research suggests that the complex inter-relationships of these various factors and their specific constellations in specific periods can exert a significant influence on the course and fate of reform initiatives and help account for the specific reform trajectories observed in Lebanon before and after the war