Political Institutionalization and Public Discourse—Adaptation and Legitimization

Abstract

The importance of the Shiite community’s public opinion was very evident in the conduct of the Hezbollah movement in the 1990s. It worked, not without errors, toward the shaping of a policy that would support the resistance on the one hand and establish the legitimacy and the Lebanese character of the movement on the other hand while it blurred its image as a radical pan-Islamic movement. The voices of the electors in the ballot boxes determined, to a large degree, the legitimacy of the movement, its power versus the Amal movement, and its ability to influence the distribution of the public goods.