Ethnosectarian Conflict and Power-Sharing Democracy in Iraq

Since the regime was brought down by coalition forces in 2003 Iraq has been undergoing the process of democratisation through some significant political changes namely relatively free and competitive elections and the freedom to form political and civil organisations. However it faced crucial challenges that undermined this process such as ethno-sectarian violence/conflict rule of law the existence of militias and lack of elite coalescence. This book examines the impact of ethnic and sectarian conflict on the failure of the power sharing democracy. It covers the period from 2003 until April 2014. The main themes focused on are societal security/ethnic and sectarian violence inclusion proportionality and power devolution/federalism. For the purposes of this study the societal security dilemma (SSD) theory which focuses mainly on the roles of elites and external actors in societies that experience a power vacuum or institutional collapse in divided societies is adopted.