The crisis of Iraqi 'democracy'
Many in Iraq have grown to despise the concept of "democracy" over the last 10 years because of the country’s limited experience with it and their failure to build a true, consensual democracy.
In 2003, democracy, for Iraqis, seemed like a magical solution to the crises and catastrophes that they had inherited from Saddam Hussein's dictatorship. They thus tried to freely express their opinions to the point of sometimes practicing democracy with a measure of abandon. By 2013, however, their views had changed, as new ideas had surfaced whereby, somehow and in some respects, many seemed to feel that democracy should be abandoned for the sake of security.
The recent crisis in Anbar and the political struggle in Iraq that degenerated into armed confrontations has opened the door to the return of reconsidering the democratic solution as an efficient means to put an end to the domestic rivalries.
Indeed, there were no indications of internal dialogue in the latest developments on the ground in Anbar, not to mention the escalation of the situation, whether on the part of the tribes or the Iraqi government, where arms had the upper hand. This suggests that armed confrontations to solving disputes will not lead to any durable solutions.
The major reaction against democratic tendencies in the Iraqi political milieu, which has been reflected in the public opinion in recent years, can be explained by the fact that Iraqis have never truly engaged in the democratic life, they rather merely adopted some of its aspects, such as elections.
