Iraqi society, as a collective society or even just an electorate, is difficult to characterize. Iraqi voters seem not to be issue-driven. Instead, they have tended to follow the decisions of clerics, tribal leaders and political leaders since 2003, when more than three decades of Baath dictatorship ended. Iraqi society participated in elections on Jan. 30, 2005, for the first time in history. The Iraqis voted for an interim Iraqi parliament, without any precedent to guide them in their political participation as they redrew the political map of the country.

The result was that the various entities in Iraq clung to their collective identities, leading to chauvinistic, sectarian and tribal divisions within the country. The Kurds and the Arabs voted for lists that represented their nationalism, and within each of those two main nationalist identities, the Shiites and Sunnis voted for candidates from their own sects. Within each sect, the tribal behavior of the Iraqi voter became apparent.

The political elites noticed the trends among Iraqi voters, and politicians responded by donning nationalist, religious and tribal masks. Secular figures like Ahmed Chalabi raised the banner of the Shiite sect. Figures like Hassan al-Alawi, who has an Arabist and Baathist background, joined the list of the Sadrist movement in the last election. Islamic figures such as Hadi al-Amiri sometimes wore the garb of tribal leaders while they served as parliament members. The examples go on.

The centers of power and influence have gradually become more numerous and varied since 2003. Religious leaders and tribal elders joined the new power centers, represented by different political parties. Religious authorities had the final say on the choices of Iraqi voters, while tribal elders imposed their political opinions on many of the tribes' members. Today, the parties have become large collective entities that compete with the traditional authority of tribes and religious institutions.