Political Culture in Iraqi Society: Performance and Rebuilding A Field Study in Political Anthropology

Abstract

In this research, we have dealt with one of the most important contemporary issues in Iraqi society after the change in 2003 in the field of the politics، which is the issue of political culture in Iraqi society، as this topic constitutes one of the most important parts of the political system. In this research، we learned about a number of things and issues، the most prominent of which are the following:

1. We got acquainted indepth with the concept of political culture and the relationship between it and culture، and how political culture is a branch of the general culture of society. It is concerned with the ideas، perceptions، attitudes، and evaluations that members of society possess towards authority and the political system.
2. We got acquainted with the culture of the candidate and the culture of the voter and the characteristics and features of each of them. In term of culture of the candidate, we found there are features، and the most prominent of which are (the political exploitation of religion and the employment of sub-cultures، the use of political money، the exploitation of ignorance، poverty and material baggary of individuals، distributing patronages to voters to buy their votes، and questioning the elections and their transparency and the culture of falsification opponents between candidates and parties before each election and so on (In the field of voter culture، the researcher found on the ground features، the most prominent of which are the following) there is listening and submission to the reference by most members of society، and the election of candidates according to the culture of loyalty and belonging. It is from the same tribe، and there is a blind sway among some to elect people according to their interests and whims، and there has become a culture of doubt and mistrust among most members of society in the ruling class.
3. In light of the field results reached by the researcher regarding the performance of political culture، a set of ingredients was developed to rebuild the political culture in the Iraqi society after diagnosing the obstacles in the field، and then, developing a set of recommendations that strengthened the building of this culture.