Decentralization in Iraq: Addressing The State – Society Gap

Hashim Haydar Khashan Al-Rikabi

doi:10.30907/jcopolicy.vi64.632

Authors

Hashim Haydar Khashan Al-Rikabi University of Kufa/ College of Political Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30907/jcopolicy.vi64.632

Keywords:

political autonomy, performance, legitimacy, accountability, Iraq

Abstract

The implementation of decentralization in Iraq was asymmetrical, leading to different forms and paces of implementation. Comparing four cases of Basra, Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Sulaymaniyah indicate that these cases differ in their political stability and autonomy in a way that led to a different forms of decentralization. This paper argues that the higher the level of political autonomy from the federal government, the more efficient the governance model, and the more efficient the governance model, the more legitimate the system (trust), and the more legitimate a system, the more accountable elected officials. Therefore, it recommends reforming the institutional setup of decentralization by having districts, instead of provinces, as the building block of decentralization.

References

قائمة المصادر:

أرام نيوز. 2019. "البرلمان العراقي يشكل لجنة تعديل الدستور ويلغي امتيازات الرئاسات الثلاث" .28 اكتوبر 2019. https://www.eremnews.com/news/arab-world/2025034

الجهاز المركزي للاحصاء/وزارة التخطيط. 2020ب. "احصاءات التربية والتعليم". 9 اذار 2022. https://www.cosit.gov.iq/ar/2018-2019

الجهاز المركزي للاحصاء/وزارة التخطيط. 2020 . "الاحصاءات الصحية والحياتية". 9 اذار 2022. https://www.cosit.gov.iq/ar/2018-2019

الحديدي، معراج. 2020. "الخطاب الطائفي للانتخابات في المناطق المتنازع عليها (كركوك نموذجاً)". مركز البيان للدراسات والتخطيط. 26 ابريل 2021. https://bit.ly/3KF4xUB

الحرة عراق. 2018. "الانتخابات العراقية بالأرقام". 9 ايلول 2018 https://arbne.ws/3h1gDL2.

شبكة درر العراق . 2004. " امر سلطة الائتلاف الرقم 17 لسنة 2004". 6 نيسان 2004 http://wiki.dorar-aliraq.net/iraqilaws/law/16407.html

قاسم، احمد، و علي محمد. 2018. " نتائج الانتخابات العراقية في الموصل. السُنة يعاقبون ساستهم بجريرة "داعش" . وكالة الاناضول. 20 ايار 2018. https://bit.ly/2SiLmc5

مجلس النواب العراقي. 2020. "قانون انتخابات مجلس النواب العراقي".24 كانون الاول 2019. https://bit.ly/3eJQ4Lj

المفوضية العليا المستقلة للانتخابات. 2021. "نتائج انتخابات 2021". 16 تشرين الاول 2021. https://ihec.iq/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%ac/

مؤسسة مدارك لدراسة آليات الرقي الفكري. 2022. "النواب حسب دورتهم الانتخابية." 9 اذار 2022. http://www.miqpm2.com/Madarik/Memberships_Index.php?ID=11

List of references:

Ala'Aldeen, Drawer. 2020. "Decentralization in Iraq: Process, Progress, and a New Tailor-Made Model" Middle East Research Institute. May 19, 2020. http://www.meri-k.org/publication/decentralisation-in-iraq-process-progress-and-a-new-tailor-made-model/

Al-Hadidi, Miraj. 2021. "Ethno-sectarian Rhetoric in Disputed Areas." Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies. April 26, 2021. https://www.bayancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/987uyd1.pdf

Alkatiri, Raad. 2020. "Federalism and Iraq's constitutional stalemate." Chatham House, November 27, 2020, https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/11/federalism-and-iraqs-constitutional-stalemate

Al-Mawlawi, Ali, and Sajad Jiyad. 2021. "Confusion and Contention: Understanding The Failures of Decentralization in Iraq." LSE Middle East Center Paper Series (44). Feb 24, 2021. https://bit.ly/33fu5ms.

Anadolu Agency. 2018. "Iraqi Elections Results in Mosul: Sunnis Punish their Politicians." May 20, 2018, https://bit.ly/2SiLmc5

Bahl, Roy, and Jorge Martinez-vazque. 2006. "Sequencing Fiscal Decentralization." World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3914. Accessed May 4, 2021. https://bit.ly/3vBqURS.

CBS News. 2021. "82 People Killed in Baghdad Hospital Fire in Intensive Care Unit, Iraqi official says." April 25, 2021. https://cbsn.ws/3xECQ7v

Dodge, Toby. 2020. "Iraq's Informal Consociationalism and Its Problems." Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 20, no. 2 (October): 145 – 152.

Dorar-aliraq. 2004. “Local Governmental Powers Order Number 71”. April 6, 2004. http://wiki.dorar-aliraq.net/iraqilaws/law/16407.html

Enikolopov, Ruben and Ekaterina Zhuravskaya. 2006. “Decentralization, and Political Institutions.” CEFIR Working Paper, Journal of Public Economics 91, (November): 1 – 43.

Erem News. 2019. "Parliament Establish a Committee for Constitutional Amendments and Remove Senior Officials Privileges." October 28, 2019. https://www.eremnews.com/news/arab-world/2025034

HuraIraq. 2018. "Iraqi Elections in Numbers. ". May 9, 2018. https://arbne.ws/3h1gDL2.

Iraq High Electoral Commission. 2021. “2021 Elections Results.” October 16, 2021. https://ihec.iq/%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%86%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%ac/

Iraqi parliament. 2019. "Parliamentary Election Law. " December 24, 2019. https://bit.ly/3eJQ4Lj

Kaiser, Kai. 2006. "Decentralization Reforms.” In Analyzing the Distributional Impacts of Reforms, edited by Aline Coudouel and Stefano Paternostro. 313 – 355. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Madarik Foundation for the Studies of Intellectual Advancement Mechanisms. 2021. "Deputies by Their Electoral Rounds." Accessed March 9, 2021. http://www.miqpm2.com/Madarik/Memberships_Index.php?ID=11

Mansour, Renad, and Lina Kathib. 2021. "Where is the ‘State’ in Lebanon and Iraq: Power Relations and Social Contract." Chatham House, April 21, 2021. https://bit.ly/3tl8vr7.

Mingus, Mathew S. "Progress and Challenges with Iraq's Multilevel Governance." Public Administration Review 72, no. 5 (August): 678 – 686.

Ministry of Planning. "Health Statistics, 2018 – 2019." Accessed March 9, 2022. https://www.cosit.gov.iq/ar/2018-2019.

Ministry of Planning. 2020. "Education Statistics, 2018 – 2019." Accessed March 9, 2022. https://www.cosit.gov.iq/ar/2018-2019.

Rosema, Martin. 2007. "Low Turnout: Threat to Democracy or Blessing in Disguise? Consequences of citizens' varying tendencies to vote." Electoral Studies 26, no. 3 (September) 612 – 623.

White, Stacey. 2011. "Government Decentralization in The 21st Century." Center for Strategic and International Studies. December 30, 2011. https://www.csis.org/analysis/government-decentralization-21st-century

World Bank. 2016. “Decentralization and Subnational Service Delivery in Iraq : Status and Way Forward”. March 2016. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/24757