Gender and Consociationalism: lessons from Iraq and Lebanon

This paper investigates the position of women within consociational power-sharing systems in the Arab region, with a specific focus on Iraq and Lebanon. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Lijphart (1969), it argues that while these systems are engineered to manage ethno-sectarian cleavages through institutionalized quotas, they systematically omit gender from their foundational logic, thereby perpetuating male-dominated political structures. Lebanon’s confessional system serves as a prime illustration, allocating political office along sectarian lines while lacking substantive provisions for women's inclusion. Feminist institutionalist scholarship elucidates how consociationalism’s preoccupation with rigid ethno-religious categories marginalizes intersectional gender concerns, a process reinforced by informal norms that actively obstruct women's political access. This exclusion is further institutionalized through sectarian jurisdiction over personal status laws, as evidenced by Lebanon's historical resistance to gender-equal legal reforms, underscoring a fundamental tension between consociational principles and feminist objectives. The empirical evidence confirms this structural marginalization. Lebanon exhibits chronically low female parliamentary representation, while even Iraq’s legislated 25% gender quota has failed to ensure substantive representation. Consequently, this analysis contends that sectarian power-sharing in the Arab region often entails a political bargain where elites trade women's rights for perceived stability. The Iraqi case reveals how quotas can meet international benchmarks while remaining disconnected from feminist aims; without genuine political autonomy, such measures risk being performative, constituting a form of "feminist window dressing" Conversely, Lebanon, where power is dispersed and no single actor can impose a quota, exemplifies "sextarian" politics. In this context, women are largely sidelined, entering the political sphere predominantly as tokens, or as “women in black”. These figures often act as placeholders, thus reinforcing the very patriarchal structures the system is built upon. This paper argues that the state discourse in Iraq and Lebanon, epitomized by their national gender strategies and action plans, reveals a fundamental contradiction: while ostensibly promoting gender equality, these frameworks ultimately institutionalize the political marginalization of women.