Modern citizenship is not a static concept that is indefinitely emulated, but rather a changing reality. The 2020 citizens are different from the 1789 citizens, and they are also different from the 1920 citizens. It is noted that citizenship practices today take tangible forms that vary across democratic countries. The fundamental question raised today is: to what extent does the Lebanese state takes into consideration the citizenship concept regarding citizens’ access to services. Lebanese citizens live in a time of radical changes as a result of the economic crisis and the imminent health risk posed by the coronavirus. Therefore, citizens are convinced of the need to turn the page of prosperous life and shift to a lifestyle which they were not previously used to. They now live at the highest levels of anxiety while their minds are filled with concerns over the country’s economic collapse, the high cost of living, the devaluation of the Lebanese pound, the lack of employment opportunities, and the closure of some businesses similarly to the domino effect, potential taxes, school tuition fees, inflated bills, low salaries, in addition to the concern over the coronavirus which has spread to all countries of the world before the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic.
The right of access to services for better citizenship
What we are talking about is the economic and social citizenship associated with the broader concept of citizenship. This concept reflects specific issues such as the right of access to electricity, water, health, education, communications and the Internet... The management of the modern state is based on the concept of the state as the servant of the people rather than on the people as the servant of the state. This concept requires the state’s fulfillment of its duties and responsibilities in order to facilitate the delivery of services to citizens residing on its territory, as well as to people coming from different countries, foreigners, and permanent or temporary residents, without regard to any ethnic, religious or sectarian considerations in particular, in addition to the provision of basic public services necessary for life and for the preservation of dignity and well-being, which include, but are not limited to, education, health, work, electricity, water, communications and Internet access.
The provision of public services represents the essence of the social contract between the state and its citizens, the spirit of social justice among citizens in terms of achieving equal access to quality public services, and the cornerstone for ensuring a satisfactory quality of free and dignified life. Furthermore, the issue of providing, developing, activating and evaluating public services is one of the most important specialized topics in modern public administration.
Problems that need solutions
- Education: The embodiment of the right to education has developed according to two paces, one for the poor and marginalized social groups, and the other for the upper strata including the middle classes and the wealthy. This dualism has caused a sharp disparity in the quality of education, and a discrepancy in the failure, dropout, and passing rates according to the quality of education in public and private institutions, as well as according to the various regions and social groups. The structure of the Lebanese state’s interventions in the field of public education seems to be contrary to the outcome achieved by the structure of similar interventions in developed countries that have adopted them earlier: relatively low attendance in public pre- primary and primary schools in Lebanon, followed by a gradual increase in attendance in subsequent educational levels up to university. Perhaps the economic downturn recently suffered by Lebanese society has forced the acceptance of public education, whereby public schools have witnessed a higher demand for registration. - In the coronavirus era, private schools have resorted to online learning in the framework of adapting to difficult circumstances and to make up for the losses suffered by students as a result of not attending school. The obstacles brought up by some people about these options and their relevance are real in principle, but this is the best option for schools, parents and students in the current circumstances.
When we talk about online learning, we practically refer to two topics: the production of the digital content, and communication with students to provide them with the educational digital content, in addition to interacting with them in line with distance education.
- Health: The embodiment of the right to health has been subject to a certain extent to the same rationale, thus causing a multiplicity of public and semi-public health insurance systems that vary according to the membership conditions and coverage standards that are not subject to a uniform rationale, while nearly half of the Lebanese people still lack an explicit and well-defined healthcare system. The costs of health services are relatively high in comparison with regional and international rates. Before the economic crisis and the spread of the coronavirus, there was a surplus in the supply of health services at the national level in terms of the average number of hospital beds, doctors and pharmacists per 1,000 population, as well as in terms of the size and type of health equipment in comparison to income levels. However, after the economic crisis, hospitals’ conditions deteriorated owing to their inability to provide all the medical supplies needed to treat patients, in addition to the lack of sufficient artificial respirators for those infected with the coronavirus, along with an increase in the cost of health services resulting from the rise in the dollar exchange rate on the black market. With regard to facing the coronavirus crisis, social awareness has contributed to reducing the number of infected people while some volunteered to provide social and health services to reduce the burden on citizens. This is manifested in personal and collective initiatives led by the Red Cross, the procurement of medicine from overseas and the launch of massive awareness campaigns. Another example is set by 14 medical students from the Lebanese University who have volunteered to fight the coronavirus in isolation, quarantine and intensive care rooms in the Rafic Hariri University Hospital. - Work: The flawed embodiment of social rights is more obvious regarding employment creation for tens of thousands of Lebanese who enter into the labor market every year. Both the direct role of the state through public employment, and its indirect role through sectoral development stimulus policies have remained non-existent or virtually non- existent. On the other hand, the socio- religious makeup has left its tangible mark on the working mechanisms regulating the private sector in this market. The relationship between the structure of demand for labor by private institutions, and the structure of labor supply from graduates produced by the educational system, has been governed by narrow and progress-hindering regional, sectarian, and familial considerations. This has led to weak labor mobility and promoted outright unemployment, disguised unemployment and underemployment, while resulting in poor labor productivity. During the spread of the coronavirus in Lebanon, workers must immediately declare staying in quarantine once infection is confirmed, while all their binding rights established by the law, regulations, and rulings issued by the Ministry of Labor are preserved.
- Electricity, water, satellite dish and the Internet: Lebanese lifestyle today necessitates that citizens pay additional subscriptions to electricity, water, satellite dish and the Internet, to the extent that the Lebanese have established a small state in which they provide themselves with services by incurring additional expenses. Citizens have to pay an additional monthly bill of around $100 for private generators, a subscription to the satellite dish which amounts to around LBP 20,000, not to mention the additional water weekly subscription fee of around LBP 30,000 since the water is almost off throughout the year, in addition to the Internet subscription, which amounts to LBP 30,000 per month. Thus, citizens have to pay double bills for services. Measures taken recently by the state to contain the spread of the coronavirus include the provision of faster internet connection to encourage work and studying from homes. In addition, young men posted their phone numbers the social media as they volunteered to provide free delivery service on motorcycles, including the delivery of raw materials and grocery items to families undergoing home quarantine in various areas in the north and south. Chemistry students at the Lebanese University, in cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine, also disinfected shops, hair salons and clothing stores, and provided masks and gloves to their owners, for a symbolic fee of 1,000 Lebanese pounds only.
Citizenship building revolution
The lack of such services has led to a massive resentment by Lebanese citizens of different affiliations, especially that all complain about the corruption of government officials and their failure to provide equal social citizenship under a fragmented political system ruled by two opposing rationales, the rationale of the civil state on the one hand, and the rationale of political sectarianism on the other hand. The problem is further exacerbated by the tendency to dismantle the system of public insurance and services for the benefit of quasi systems built by political sectarianism that uses them as a tool to maintain the political and social subordination of the “sectarian masses” in return for a handful of services that are often funded - and this is the worst thing – through the theft and deduction of public money. The increased polarization of growing social groups by such quasi-service systems has very negative implications, especially with regard to systematizing the concept of social citizenship and the citizen’s affiliation with the civil state. In brief, this polarization promotes the recreation of the sectarian system and its elite families and sectarian elites.
Citizens exploded with anger on October 17, 2020 as a result of this situation and revolted against the decline in public services, political paralysis, and aggravating corruption, and demanded a state of citizenship that strengthens their ties to the country, deepens their sense of belonging and loyalty to it, and enhances community security on the basis of the rule of law and equal opportunities, free from sectarianism, corruption, and narrow partisan interests.
Following the uprising, the era of coronavirus began. It has showed that all the Lebanese - individuals, parties and political and social groups - assume responsibility at the national level. They have contributed in all sincerity and in a spirit of cooperation and solidarity to effectively fight the coronavirus, and have acted with a sense of patriotism and compassion and a clear conscience.