Electoral systems and their impact on political stability in Iraq

Abstract

Elections determine the organization of the entire form of political life in the state, as there is a dialectical relationship between democracy and elections. It is not possible to talk about the existence of a democratic system in the absence of fair and transparent elections. Elections have become one of the most effective means of deepening democracy. Therefore, Western political thought has tended to make them the basic mechanism for reaching power in a way that transforms the right to vote into an embodiment of two basic characteristics: strong legitimacy on the one hand, and the possibility of civilized societies dealing with electoral work on the other hand. Elections are nothing more than a political and technical mechanism that allows citizens to choose a person from among a number of candidates to be a representative of the group to which they belong. In this regard, the transformations that the world has witnessed towards democracy since the eighties have created a desire to search for models for appropriate representative institutions. The nineties witnessed a great development in the reforms focused on electoral systems, especially in the new democracies in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and others, where they began to study and quote. Distinctive experiences to support democracy from abroad .

Elections have become the most prominent feature in the world of democracy, and countries that do not adopt elections and clear systems will be dictatorial. It seems that democratic systems in our contemporary time are more numerous than dictatorial systems, but up to now, political thought has not reached the required level. We can summarize the most important matters that would increase awareness, positive influence, and political stability, that coalitions should be based on the public interest and not on the interest of parties, sects ,or race , In order for there to be a true national partnership, the goal of the parties must be the peaceful transfer of power and work in accordance with the principle of separation of powers and cooperation between them. Political and governmental stability is linked to many factors, some of which precede the formation of the government and some of which coincide with it, some of which are the result of internal factors and some of which are the result of external factors. As far as Iraq is concerned, it has witnessed a state of general political instability. One of the most important reasons that caused political instability in Iraq is the existence of a defect in the adopted electoral system because it does not conform to the nature of the social or political structure in Iraq.