Iraq’s Informal Consociationalism and Its Problems

Abstract

This paper looks at the applicability of formal, informal, liberal and corporate consociationalism to Iraq. It examines the drafting of the Iraqi constitution in 2005 and the political system it consecrated. It argues that the political system in Iraq is a good example of informal consociationalism, with government formation governed by unwritten consociational rules and norms. It then examines the negative problems connected with this system, primarily exclusion and systematically sanctioned corruption. It concludes by examining the challenges posed to the post-2005 system by the mass protest movement that started in October 2019.