A system of government called 'confessionalism' which distributes power proportionally among religious communities is currently prevelant in which tiny Middle-Eastern nation?
"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. The repartition of assembly seats on a confessional base in the Middle East was inaugurated by the Ottoman Empire (e.g. in the Ottoman Parliament) and went on in several post-Ottoman countries with reserved seats for non-Muslim (Christian) minorities (Syria, Jordan, Iraq ), or for all religious communities including Muslim subgroups and Christian churches (Lebanon). A"
"by and is still in use to various degrees in various Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and Greece (for religious minorities). Similar separate systems are used in India, Iran, Pakistan and Bangladesh. These systems sometimes create legal problems for atheists and couples of different religions. Atheists may be forced to declare an approved religion, or may be assigned one based on their ethnicity. Even in counties where freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution or other fundamental law, practices or beliefs of a specific religion might be reflected in ostensibly secular"
"Confessionalism (politics) Confessionalism ( ""muḥāṣaṣah ṭā’ifīyah"") 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. Proponents of confessionalism 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,"
"the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the occupying administration introduced a system where power was shared between the three main ethno-religious groups: Shi'ite Arabs, Sunni 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 Arab and the Prime Minister a Shi'ite Arab. In the politics of the Netherlands the term ""confessionalism"" refers to any political ideology based"
"() was announced, but it appeared after a few days it was a hoax, its programme was actually an adapted copy of the programme of the Protestant fundamentalist Reformed Political Party. The only Muslim parties with political representation in the Netherlands are Islam Democrats and its splinter group Party of Unity, each with one councillor in The Hague municipal council. Confessionalism (politics) Confessionalism ( ""muḥāṣaṣah ṭā’ifīyah"") 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. Proponents of confessionalism cite it as an"
"power-sharing system (also known as confessionalism) based on the 1932 census. The 1932 census is the only official census conducted in Lebanon: with a total population of 1,046,164 persons, Maronites made up 33.57%, Sunnis made up 18.57% and Shiites made up 15.92% (with several other denominations making up the remainder). The National Pact served to reinforce the sectarian system that had begun under the French Mandate, by formalizing the confessional distribution of the highest public offices and top administrative ranks according to the proportional distribution of the dominant sects within the population. Because the census showed a slight Christian dominance"
"is the most unique in the Middle East, and a mix of religions make up Lebanon, represented by 59% Muslim (Shi'a, Sunni, Druze, Isma'ilite, Alawite/Nusayri), 41% Christian (Maronite, Greek Orthodox, Melkite, Protestant, and Christian churches non-native to Lebanon like Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian Catholic Church, Armenian Evangelical Church, Roman Catholic Church, Assyrian Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria).Lebanon has a confessional political system in which, regardless of political parties, the President is always Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of the Parliament a Shi’ite Muslim, and the Deputy Prime"
"Lebanese society Lebanese society is very modern and similar to certain cultures of Southern Europe as the country is ""linked ideologically and culturally to Europe through France, and its uniquely diverse religious composition [create] a rare environment that [is] at once Arab and European"". It is often considered as Europe's gateway to Western Asia as well as Asia's gateway to the Western World. The Lebanese system is parliamentary democracy, which implements a special system known as confessionalism. This system is intended to deter sectarian conflict and attempts to fairly represent the demographic distribution of the 18 recognized religious groups in"
"the Deputy Prime Minister and the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eastern Orthodox. This system is intended to deter sectarian conflict and attempts to represent fairly the demographic distribution of the 18 recognized religious groups in government. Until 1975, Freedom House considered Lebanon to be one of only two (together with Israel) politically free countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. The country lost this status with the outbreak of the Civil War, and has not regained it since. Lebanon was rated ""Partly Free"" in 2013. Even so, the United States still considers Lebanon to be one of the"
"like the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council would have unlimited power over the nation. With the nuclear program developing in Iran and much conflict after September 22, 2001, Iran and the Islamic Republic are at a crossroads. Religion in Iraq is represented by 97% Islam (Shiite 60%–65%, Sunni 32%–37%), and 3% Christian or other. Because of this large majority of Shia over Sunni Muslim, there is much tension between the two groups. Religion in Israel is represented by the following religious make-up: Judaism 77%, Islam 16%, Christian 2%, Druze 2% (2003). As of 2013, the Israeli ""Government - Christians"
"again, optional or if it should be obligatory and plural. Religion in Yemen is represented by a majority Islam (including Sunni and Shiite), small numbers of Jewish, Baha'i, Christian, and Hindu. Religion in the Middle East Three major religious groups (i.e. the two largest religions in the world: Christianity and Islam, plus Judaism) originated in the Middle East. Smaller minority religions, such as the Bahá'í Faith, Druze, Nusairism, Manichaeism, Sabianism, Bábism, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Gnosticism, Yarsanism, Samaritanism, Shabakism, Ishikism, Ali-Illahism, Alevism, Yazdânism and Zoroastrianism are also present in the Middle East. The smaller, religiously unaffiliated population is forecast to grow 56%,"
"of a Judaic group Bnei Menashe, who claim descent from the biblical Menasseh. Muslims make up about 1.1% of the state population. The major Christian denomination is the Presbyterian Church. The church Mizoram Presbyterian Church was established by a Welsh Missionary named Rev. D.E. Jones and is one of the constituted bodies of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of India, which has its headquarters at Shillong in Meghalaya (India). The administration of the Presbyterian Church is highly centralised. The Synod, with its headquarters at Aizawl, is the highest decision making body of the church with considerable influence. The"
"modern national branch of Christianity. Closely related to state churches are ecclesiae, which are similar but carry a more minor connotation. In the Middle East, many states with primarily Islamic population have Islam as their state religion, either as the Shiite or Sunni variety, though the degree of religious restrictions on the citizen's everyday life varies by country. Rulers of Saudi Arabia use both secular and religious power, while Iran's secular presidents are supposed to follow the decisions of religious authorities since the revolution of 1979. Turkey, which also has a primarily Muslim population, became a secular country after Atatürk's"
"Confessional community A confessional community is a group of people with similar religious beliefs. In the Ottoman Empire, this allowed people to be grouped by religious confession as opposed to nationality or ethnicity, which was more consistent with the existing social structure. People were able to represent themselves more effectively as a group than as individuals. With the rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire and after the Ottoman Tanzimat (1839–76) reforms, the term ""Millet"" was used for legally protected ethno-religious minority groups, similar to the way other countries used the word nation. The Lebanese Constitution is based on the"
"very diverse when it comes to religions, many of which originated there. Islam is the largest religion in the Middle East, but other faiths that originated there, such as Judaism and Christianity, are also well represented. Christians represent 40.5% of Lebanon, where the Lebanese president, half of the cabinet, and half of the parliament follow one of the various Lebanese Christian rites. There are also important minority religions like the Bahá'í Faith, Yarsanism, Yazidism, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Druze, and Shabakism, and in ancient times the region was home to Mesopotamian religions, Canaanite religions, Manichaeism, Mithraism and various monotheist gnostic sects. The"
"exceptions include Israel and Lebanon. The largest group remaining in the Middle East is the Maronite Church based in Beirut, Lebanon, an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Pope and the rest of the Catholic Church. For specific nations (including Eastern Catholic churches), see: In addition, the Latin Church in the Middle East comprise Latin Catholics subject to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Christianity in the Middle East is characterized by its diverse beliefs and traditions, compared to Christianity in other parts of the Old World. In 2010, Christians were estimated to make up 5% of the total"
"embraces secularism and has attracted supporters of all faiths in many Arab countries, especially Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. Since August 1990, however, the party has tended to de-emphasize socialism and to stress pan-Arab unity. Six smaller political parties are permitted to exist and, along with the Ba'ath Party, make up the National Progressive Front (NPF), a grouping of parties that represents the sole framework of legal political party participation for citizens. While created ostensibly to give the appearance of a multi-party system, the NPF is dominated by the Ba'ath Party and does not change the essentially one-party character of the"
"affiliation. This practice is operative in all three branches of government. The Taif Agreement also stipulated a cabinet with power equally allocated between Muslims and Christians. The political establishment has been reluctant to change this ""confessional"" system, because citizens perceive it as critical to the country's stability. Formal recognition by the Government is a legal requirement for religious groups to conduct most religious activities. A group that seeks official recognition must submit a statement of its doctrine and moral principles for government review to ensure that such principles do not contradict popular values or the Constitution. The group must ensure"
"Religion in the Middle East Three major religious groups (i.e. the two largest religions in the world: Christianity and Islam, plus Judaism) originated in the Middle East. Smaller minority religions, such as the Bahá'í Faith, Druze, Nusairism, Manichaeism, Sabianism, Bábism, Yazidism, Mandaeism, Gnosticism, Yarsanism, Samaritanism, Shabakism, Ishikism, Ali-Illahism, Alevism, Yazdânism and Zoroastrianism are also present in the Middle East. The smaller, religiously unaffiliated population is forecast to grow 56%, from about 2 million to more than 3 million. Hindus, adherents of folk religions and Buddhists are expected to experience the greatest growth as a percentage of their modest 2010 counts,"
"within the overall framework of Confessionalism, a form of consociationalism in which the highest offices are proportionately reserved for representatives from certain religious communities. A growing number of Lebanese, however, have organized against the confessionalist system, advocating for an installation of laïcité in the national government. The most recent expression of this secularist advocacy was the Laïque Pride march held in Beirut on April 26, 2010, as a response to Hizb ut-Tahrir's growing appeal in Beirut and its call to re-establish the Islamic caliphate. Under the leadership of Habib Bourguiba (1956–1987), Tunisia’s post independence government pursued a program of secularization."
"of religion is currently established by law in both China and Vietnam, and respected in practice to some degree (see Freedom of religion in China and Freedom of religion in Vietnam). The minority of modern countries with state religions have established interpretations of either Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism. Countries with state religions range from those with extremely tolerant laws, like the United Kingdom, to those where the police enforce daily prayer, like Saudi Arabia. Under the millet system of the Ottoman Empire, separate systems of family law are enforced by religious authorities for their separate communities. This system was inherited"
"Sunni Islam (55-50%). Jews are the only indigenous religious minority. Nearly all of the country's once-sizable Jewish population has emigrated. Fewer than 500 Jews remain in the country. There are 3,000 Christians throughout the country, most of whom are refugees or temporary foreign residents. The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice; however, there were some restrictions. The Constitution declares that Islam is the state religion and that Shari'a is the source of all legislation. Followers of religious groups other than Islam are free to worship according to their beliefs and to"
"distinct from European Jewry. Today Judaism in the Middle East is mostly practiced in Israel. Israel’s population is 75.3% Jewish, with the remainder made up of Muslims (20.6%), Christians, Druze, Bahá'í and various other minorities (4.1%). There are few other countries in the Middle East with significant Jewish populations, but the communities are small and scattered. There are between 60,000 and 70,000 Mandaeans worldwide and in the Middle East they are found in Iraq and Iran. They revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh and Noah. Mandaeans are an ethnoreligious community, which doesn't allow conversion. Samaritanism is a closely affiliated religion with"
"deputies. It represented a major technical achievement at that time. A unique feature of the Lebanese system is the principle of ""confessional distribution"": each religious community has an allotted number of deputies in the Parliament. In elections held between 1932 and 1972 (the last till after the Lebanese Civil War), seats were apportioned between Christians and Muslims in a 6:5 ratio, with various denominations of the two faiths allocated representation roughly proportional to their size. By the 1960s, Muslims had become openly dissatisfied with this system, aware that their own higher birthrate and the higher emigration rate among Christians had"
"majority areas and vice versa. Syria is approximately three quarters Sunni, but its government is predominantly Alawite, a Shia sect that makes up less than 15% of the population. Under Hafez al-Assad, Alawites dominated the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, a secular Arab nationalist party which had ruled Syria under a state of emergency from 1963 to 2011. Alawites are often considered a form of Shia Islam, that differs somewhat from the larger Twelver Shia sect. During the 20th century, an Islamic uprising in Syria occurred with sectarian religious overtones between the Alawite-dominated Assad government and the Islamist Sunni Muslim Brotherhood,"
"The Lebanese government is structured around the unofficial National Pact. It is a multiconfessionalist government, meaning parliamentary seats are reserved for certain religious groups. The Pact used data from the 1932 census, which counted 0 atheists in Lebanon. It stipulated that (among other things): The 4th point of the Agreement was changed by the Taif Agreement (1989), and the parliament's new structure gave Muslims and Christians equal representation. Although the new agreement used more recent data, it still gave no reserved seats for atheists in any governmental post. While the confessionalist nature of the government was supposed to be temporary,"
"resisting political domination by their neighbors. The Agni have remained heavily Catholic, for example, whereas the neighboring Baoulé have evolved a variety of syncretisms, following prophets that promise good fortune as a reward for allegiance to them. Small groups in the far northeast have also evolved a variety of belief systems to maintain their traditions, incorporate selected aspects of Islam, and resist domination by outsiders. Religious communities generally coexist peacefully. No world religion has been embraced by a majority of people. Conversions have been an individual matter in most cases, and many families include Muslims and Christians living together. Religious"
"most democratic nations in the Arab world. Until 2005, Palestinians were forbidden to work in over 70 jobs because they did not have Lebanese citizenship. After liberalization laws were passed in 2007, the number of banned jobs dropped to around 20. In 2010, Palestinians were granted the same rights to work as other foreigners in the country. Lebanon's national legislature is the unicameral Parliament of Lebanon. Its 128 seats are divided equally between Christians and Muslims, proportionately between the 18 different denominations and proportionately between its 26 regions. Prior to 1990, the ratio stood at 6:5 in favor of Christians;"
"idea of Confessionalism, a balance of powers between a number of state-recognized confessional communities. Confessional community A confessional community is a group of people with similar religious beliefs. In the Ottoman Empire, this allowed people to be grouped by religious confession as opposed to nationality or ethnicity, which was more consistent with the existing social structure. People were able to represent themselves more effectively as a group than as individuals. With the rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire and after the Ottoman Tanzimat (1839–76) reforms, the term ""Millet"" was used for legally protected ethno-religious minority groups, similar to the"
"other hand, some Muslim leaders are opposed to the secular concept of government and especially to a government controlled by former communists. Some official leaders and teachers working outside the official structure have vowed to increase the population's knowledge of Islam, increase Islam's role in society, and broaden adherence to its tenets. Alarmed that such activism may aggravate tensions between Sunnis and Shiites and especially alienate Orthodox Slavs, the government has drawn up plans to elevate the council of religious affairs to ministry status in an effort to regulate religious activities more tightly. Protestants account for less than 1% of"
"however it is constitutionally a secular state. Those who are actual practicing adherents are much lower, which has led to them generally being excluded from the crescent. Shia are also the majority of citizens in Bahrain, however the government is largely Sunni. Large Shia minorities also exist in Lebanon, Kuwait, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and to a lesser extent, UAE. Excepting Lebanon, where the weak central government structure of Lebanon has allowed Hezbollah to become involved in the Syrian civil war, these are not usually described as part of the crescent. In 29th International Islamic Unity Conference"
"perform pilgrimage. Iraq is a constitutional democracy with a republican, federal, pluralistic system of government, consisting of 18 provinces or ""governorates."" Although the Constitution recognizes Islam as the official religion and states that no law may be enacted that contradicts the established provisions of Islam, it also guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religious belief and practice. While the Government generally endorses these rights, political instability during the Iraq War and the ongoing Iraqi Civil War have prevented effective governance in parts of the country not controlled by the Government, and the Government's ability to protect religious freedoms has been"
"in the Middle East. It is the dominant religion in Armenia (94%), the ethnically Armenian unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (95%) and in Ethiopia (43%, the total Christian population being 62%), especially in two regions in Ethiopia: Amhara (82%) and Tigray (96%), as well as the capital city of Addis Ababa (75%). It is also one of two dominant religions in Eritrea (50%). It is a minority in Egypt (<20%), Sudan (3–5%), Syria (2–3% out of the 10% of total Christians), Lebanon (10% of the 40% of Christians in Lebanon or 200,000 Armenians and members of the Church of the East) and"