Abstract

The problem of the democratic deficit that Iraq is currently experiencing is one of the most prominent problems it faced within the framework of the transition process towards building a new political system based on the principles and concepts of democracy, after the fall of the previous regime at the hands of American forces in 2003. Although the causes and factors of this deficit are many and varied, we decided to explain this deficit from a socio/political perspective, in particular through the cultural/ values variable, due to the importance of this factor and its great impact on the process of political transformation in general and democratic construction in particular in politically transformed societies and culturally diverse and socially like Iraq. This problem is embodied in the weak cultural environment in support of the democratic political transformation in Iraq. In other words, the absence of a political culture that fits with the requirements of this very delicate and sensitive transition period, while responding to the requirements of a sound democratic construction. This research seeks to shed light on this complex problem based on the variable of the prevailing political culture in Iraq before and after the political change that it witnessed, and analyze the contents of this culture and its components, and then diagnose the causes of this problem and explain its effects and repercussions on the overall political and societal life in Iraq after a march around 17 years of political transformation, Iraq’s entry into a political and security maze, societal division and external interference in bulk, and reaching the stage of political blockage and deficits in its democratic process.