Scholars and policy-makers frequently assume that the new states must develop stability before they can hope to operate the complex and delicate institutions of liberal democracy. But in the case of the Lebanese Republic this relationship is reversed: democratic institutions have brought about and maintained stability in an unfavorable political environment. The Lebanese case suggests that formal institutions, although neglected in behavioral political science, deserve renewed attention as causal agents in the process of political modernization.1 At the same time, it raises the question of whether such institutions can supply enough systematic flexibility to meet the social mobilization demands of a rapidly changing society. Lebanon's fragmented body politic-its traditional pluralism-has necessitated a political system based upon the balance of power, in the absence of positive legitimacy for the institutions of the state. In turn, the balance of power has required institutions that promote democratic values. Without the democratic institutions the balance of power would cease to be stable, and without stability the state would cease to exist. Lebanon's representative institutions are an essential condition of its stability, not a lucky byproduct. This relationship, of course, has not gone unnoticed by Lebanon's politicians. In his inaugural address of September 23, 1964, President Charles Helou said: "I believe that the democratic system is an intrinsic necessity for our country.... It assures a balance between powers and makes possible a fruitful meeting among the Lebanese spiritual families. Thus their energies are activated within the democratic foundations, and their needs are met within a framework of brotherly cooperation. Rule is consultative, and the consultative system in Lebanon is one of the conditions of cooperative and stable life."2 This situation, however, is no cause for unrestrained optimism on the part of advocates of moderate democracy. First, the Lebanese system is democratic only in a limited sense. Second, modernization creates a dilemma for this balance-of-power system because it burdens a weak governmental