The Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon: a Study of Its Origins, Organization, and Leadership

THE PROGRESSIVE SOCIALIST PARTY OF LEBANON: A STUDY OF ITS ORIGINS, ORGANIZATION, AND LEADERSHIP By MONHEM NAIM NASSEREDDINE v I Bachelor of Science Oklahoma. State University Stillwater, Oklahoma 1964 Submitted to the faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma. State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ·ARTS May, 1967 THE PROGRESSIVE SOCIALIST PARTY OF LEBANON: A STUDY OF ITS ORIGINS, ORGANIZATION, AND LEADERSHIP Thesis Approved: ;zj_~~,,;~· Thesis Adviser ~ -<· (k!,,7 ii O!{lAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY JAN 16 1968 PREFACE For some time now, the Arab world has been the center of atten- tion of many academic studies. Lebanon, as an Arab state, has received its share of such studies, especially since the 1958 revolt, which brought American intervention to Lebanono This crisis alone produced more material· on Lebanese politics than the whole of the preceding fifteen years. Unfortunately, however, most of the work on Lebanese politics has been somewhat general. There has been little work done on the political party system of· Lebanon or on individual parties. This study is concerned with a particular party, the Progressive Social- :trtt,': Party, and its origins, leadership, organization and relative position in the Lebanese politic~l areha, The selection of the Progressive Socialist Party was not an arbitrary one: it was the only possible choice. Three conditions governed the choice of a party from among the many in Lebanon. First, the author wanted to study a party whose leaders, members, and supporters are Lebanese; second, it was desired that the party have the characteristics of a mass party; and third, the party should place ideology above religious or feudalistic affiliation. The Progressive Socialist Party was the <:,nly one which appeared to m~et these conditions. iii 359681 In this study, many Arabic terms have been used. Most of these are self-explanatory, since an English translation of each term is provided in the text. The word Druze, which is frequently used here, refers to an entire religious community, and should be understood to be plural. Many writers use the word Druzes as the plural. This .is incorrect. This work, which was begun in Lebanon in the sunnner of 1965, has been completed with the supervision., help, and encouragement of many individuals. It is my pleasure to thank the following: Profes sor Harold V. Sare, under whose direction most of this study was made; Dr. Raymond N. Habiby, whose help in the translation of the Progres sive Socialist Party's charter and constitution was most appreciated; Dr. Clifford A. L. Rich, for his personal help and encouragement during my entire program of study; Mr. Kamal Junblat, leader of the Progres sive Socialist Party, for his valuable suggestions and information on the party; Mr. Abbas Khalaf and Mr. Amin Jurdi, for their interest in my work, and the time they spent in interviews with me; Dr. Edmund Na 1:im, for his help; the members of my family, expecially·my father, Na:im Nassereddine, and my brothers, Wadi' and Ziad, who patiently supplied me with information and material pertinent to this study; Miss Anne Delap, for her help in correcting and typing; and the many others who aided the progress of my work by completing the question naire administered to party members, and by supplying information. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Introduction • • • • • . • • • . •· . • • 1 II. Influences of Lebanese Politics on the Origin and Development ef the Progressive Socialist Party •• . •. 9 Geographical Influences • • It O • 0 • 0 • • • • 0 • 10 Historical and Cultural Influences • • • • • • . 11 Confessional Influences •••••.fl••••••••• . 15 Feudalist Influences •••••••••• ·········· 20 The Lebanese Party System • • •••• o· • • O' • . • • • 24 The Progressive Socialist·Party ••• • • • • • 0 • • 29 Origins • • • • • • • • • • .. •. • •.•. • • • • • • • • • 29 Devel~pment • • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 • 0 0 •· • 0 0 0 35 III. Organization, Membership and Finances . t O O O O • • 44 Organization • • • • • .. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 46 Central Party Structure ••••••••• • • • • • 0 • 46 Regional Party Structure •••••••• • . • • . 65 Membership • • • • • • • • • • . • • • . • 71 Finances • • • • • • • • .• • • • • • • • • • • • . • 77 IV. Ideology, Programs and Political Orientation • • . 81 Progressive Socialism 0 0 0 • 0 § 0 0 0 0 0 • • • • • • • 83 Internal Policies •• . • • • • • . • • 95 External Policies • 0 • • . •••• 103 v. Leadership, Alliances, and Party Activities 0 0 0 0 0 0 • 111 Leadership • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ...•.. 113, Alliances • • • • • • • • • • • . •· • • • • • • 128 Party Activities • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 • 0 • • 1.33 VI. Conclusions • • • • • • • • 0 • • 0 .• •••••• • 140 Bibliography. • • • • 0 • 0 •. • • . • • • • 148 Appendices. • • • • 0 •. • • • 0 • •• ............. 153 V LIST OF TABLES Table Page I. Religious Groups· .in Le ban0n • • • • • • • • • • • • • . 16 II. Distribution of Seats by Religion Within the Lebanese Parliament 1943-1960 •••.••••••••• • • 18 III. Distribution of Higher Administrative Positions in 1955. 19 IV. Sectarian Patterns of Cabinet Structures 1943-1961 • • • 19 v. Distribution of Deputies in Seven Lebanese Parliaments by Occupation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 24 VI. Lebanese Political Parties ............... 27 LIST OF CHARTS Chart Page I. Party Organization ••• •' . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . • • 47 II. Central Party Leadership. • • • ....... • • • • • • • 114 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Civilization, it is often said, grows by reducing the areas where violence and misunderstandings are dominant. When force and violence are diminished, a better society can be hoped for. The nature of this better society will depend, as have all its predecessors, on the na ture of its citizens and their behavior. Therefore, regardless of the period in question, it has always been true that 11 the root is man. 11 1 He is the basis of history, which reflects the customs, traditions, and governmental systems that man has found it necessary to create. The better society which man has always searched for has been the theme of various ideological movements, among which is international socialism. Since its inception by men like Robert Owen, Henry Saint Simon, and Charles Fourier, socialism has had champions • in most parts of the world. This ideology has already been applied in many areas of the world, and is being introduced in others under various banners and in many forms. A common technique for advancing socialist ideas has been the organization of a political party which attem~ts to spread these ideas to the masses, reg1rdless of their origins, customs, or nationalities. 1Heinz Eulau, The Behavioral Approach to Persuasion in Politics (New York, 1963), p. 3. 1 2 Lebanon, a newly independent nation, 2 has among its many political parties one which professes socialism as its ideology. This is the Progressive Socialist Party, the object of this study. The goal of the Progressive Socialist Party, as stated in its constitution and party literature, is the achievement of a socialist society in Lebanon as part of a larger international socialist order. The purpose of this thesis will be to study the origins, structure, and leadership of the Progressive Socialist Party, which appears to be a mass party in accordance with the definition given by Maurice Duverger. Thus, one of the main purposes of the study will be to determine whether or not the Progressive Socialist Party is indeed a mass party. This will be achieved by studying the actual functioning of the party in the main structure of Lebanese politics, and observing how the party relates organizationally to its members and supporters in pursuing its goals. Several questions have been posed which have served to guide the research Of this thesis, ~~'~al which is how and under what circumstances did the party come into existence? ~;c~~t what are the organizational characteristics of the party? ~~~~a) what ,,;,,·"···,·"',; are the main features of the partyvs ideology? fourtn1, what kind of "'-·=~_., .. ,' 2 See Shils' discussion of the concept of "new states" to which he attributes the following properties: 1. .. -They have recently acquired independence following a substan .. tial period of foreign rule; their machinery of government is of quite recent origin. 2--Their social structure and culture are~ on the whole, highly traditional. 3--Significant sections of their elite are conc~rned with modern izing their social structure, their culture, and their politi cal life and outlook. Edward M. Shils, Political Development in the New States (Gravenhage, Netherlands, 1962), p. 11. 3 activities has the party engaged in, and what techniques goes it usually employ? In pursuing this study, the author has used personal interviews with party leaders and members, and a questionnaire, which was dis- tributed to party members. However, because the party insisted that it should distribute the questionnaire and would not permit the author to do so, its validity must be considered with caution. Academic re ferences have also b~en liberally drawn upon. One of the ~asic·theo- retical references was Maurice Duverger 1 s Political Parties. The study of a political party, in this case.the Progressive Socialist Party, must be preceded by a clear understanding of the term political party. In the words of Duverger: •.•• we use the term parties to describe the factions which divi ded the Republic of Antiquity, the

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