The Effect of Social Diversity on the Nature of the Political System in Iraq

Conference on Cultural Diversity, the Basis of National Integration, College of Arts/Wasit University 2022

Abstract

The research aims to study the problem of social diversity and its role in determining the form of political system in Iraq and to identify the degree of response by the 2005 Iraqi constitution in terms of reference to this diversity and preserving the peculiarities of the Iraqi social components such as identifying with the essence, forms and manifestations of this social diversity in Iraq . The study also reached some conclusions. The research found out that the post- 2003 political system delegated much power to the regional federal administrations in terms of choosing language, the kind of school education ,determining the official holidays which mark traditional occasions celebrated by these communities and establishing security forces of their own for providing protection according to the Iraqi constitution. The study concludes that social diversity in Iraq falls into two kinds: religious and ethnic. The religious diversity is a result of the existence of sects and denominations while the ethnic diversity came as a result of consecutive migrations into Iraq. The federal system is characterized by many traits a matter which render it a potential solution for tackling various socially-diverse societies because it combines the two paradoxical principles of partnership and independence . Through the principle of partnership ,on the one hand , the various communities and groups become able to take part in the general authority of the central government while , in terms of the principle of independence, the right of maintaining their own peculiarities is ensured through a local constitution of their own . Hence , the federal system of government represents a solution to the problem of the religious , ethnic and linguistic diversity that characterizes the Iraqi society.