federalism in divided society Kurdistan Iraq as case study

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the suitability of federalism for the Iraqi society, which suffers from deep ethno-sectarian divisions, by focusing on the nature of the administrative and political decentralized institutionalism. This type of institutionalism has been adopted since the ratification of the 2005 Constitution, which aimed to social stability and integration. However, practically, there has been only one federal subregion—i.e., Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)—as a natural region that separates Kurds as an ethnic group from the Arab-Iraqis in the rest of the country. That subregion also reflected the historical Kurdish struggle against the Iraqi governments since the independence in 1921. Although the KRG has achieved its semi-independence after the 2005, it has also engaged in many institutional and political tensions as a result the ethnic-based institutions that, as a result, has affected the performance of federalism in the country. Consequently, many legal and political struggles have appeared to the surface, which reached its peak in the referendum of independency from Iraq in 2017. That incident was encountered by the federal government through a limited military action. Therefore, it is required here to achieve both constitutional and political review to make the desired reformation.