Preface
Laws regulate the functions of the state and determine the nature of the relationship between its institutions and society at large. They provide the basis for achieving justice and equality among individuals and define the mutual rights and obligations between the state, its citizens and residents. Laws protect the...
Introduction
There are potentially three provinces of thought or general frameworks that can, if we invest in them well, provide us with effective solutions and real successes in the face of extremist behaviour, culture and practice. These provinces deal with the culture of extremism that preceded it on the one...
Iraq’s massive needs for reconstruction, after more than 35 years of conflict, cannot be met by current revenues from its considerable hydrocarbon resources alone, and thus it needs to resort to debt to augment funding this reconstruction.
However, discussions within Iraq about the country’s debt are emotionally influenced by several...
Once viewed as having one of the most robust healthcare systems across the Middle East, the Iraqi healthcare system has experienced a steady decline since the late-1980s as a result of conflicts and the resultant economic troubles that have gripped the country. The biggest blows to the system came...
Iraq has struggled with the concept of federalism ever since it was enshrined in the 2005 Constitution. It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss how the authors of the Constitution envisioned a federal Iraq, or to put it more accurately, how competing visions led to the...
Transparency International’s much-awaited annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) was released last month. This year, New Zealand emerged on top with an overall score of 89/100 while Somalia was ranked as the country with the highest levels of perceived corruption with a score of 9/100. The average global score was...
Iraq’s parliament finally approved the 2018 federal budget last week after amendments were made by the parliamentary finance committee to the original bill submitted by the government. Key takeaways from this budget include cuts to security and defence spending; greater investment in the electricity and health sectors; and an...
Despite some individual calls for boycotting the upcoming election on May 12, 2018, there are several institutional, political, and socio-economic factors that will motivate Iraqi voters to participate at an acceptable level. Election turnout has been taking a decreasing trend in Iraq, as appears in Chart I, therefore, it...
Each electoral cycle, thousands of people in Iraq, including those with little chance of winning, announce their candidacy to run in the elections. 9043 candidates competed for 328 seats in the previous parliamentary election of 2014, which represents about 27 times the number of available seats. This ratio is...
The electoral system of provincial councils is based on proportional system, which enables many parties to win seats in proportion to their vote share, leading to politically unstable councils. Furthermore, each province is one electoral district, which weakens the dimension of accountability. These two aspects inhibit the ability of...
