Abstract This article analyses how the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP) altered its political strategies in post-war Iraq. After the decline of the political presence, the ICP formed large alliances with small parties in the third round of local and national elections, opting to support candidates on a national scale; in doing so, the ICP achieved significant breakthrough. The party's election strategy not only led to the ICP's success but also to the overall stabilization of Iraqi party politics. After the rise of ISIS, the ICP overcame its ideological differences with Sadrist factions that similarly stood alongside the masses; pursuing large-scale demonstrations, the ICP found further opportunities to carry out its political activities. The ICP has thus been adroit in adapting its political strategies according to political and social circumstances. As Islamist groups have seized political power and religious sentiment has spread, the ICP might be seen as pursuing the best of strategies that remain available to it.
AbstractA great number of scholarship has been devoted to examining the impacts of domestic politics to foreign policies. Many studies have also examined the impacts of international politics to domestic politics, focusing on democracy-building or constructing political institutions within the framework of the state-building. However, such scholarship has not focused enough on the impacts of international politics to opposition forces and their relationship to political conflict in the post-conflict era. In countries that have experienced regime change, the formerly exiled opposition forces that became the ruling parties had changed their policies under the influence of the host country and other foreign actors in international politics during their exile. This paper sheds light on the two main Iraqi Islamist parties, the Da'wa Party and the SCIRI, and clarifies their changing policies under the influence of the host countries and international politics. It also makes clear how these changes were reflected by the political conflict in post-war Iraq. Scholars of Iraqi politics have discussed the reasons of political conflict in post-war Iraq as following: (1) sectarian conflicts as a result of the artificiality of the Iraqi state; and (2) struggles for the mobilization of votes in elections. Against these arguments, this paper considers the historical and international impacts on the formerly exiled Islamist ruling parties as a more significant factor in explaining the reasons for political conflict in post-war Iraq.By analyzing primary sources on segments of the Da'wa Party and the SCIRI after their exile, the following two facts are clarified: First, the two Islamist parties came to have differing ideology as well as policy as a result of the influences from the host country and international politics, which reflected the political conflict in post-war Iraq. The SCIRI maintained good relations with the host country, Iran, and had its original Islamist ideology, while the Da'wa Party, not being able to maintain cooperative relations with the host country, consequently changed its Islamist ideology to a more nationalist ideology under the direct influence of Western society. In the post-war era, the SCIRI attempted to construct a regional government in the south based on a transnational Islamist ideology, while the Da'wa Party attempted to construct a centralized government based on a nationalism that aimed to strengthen national unity. Second, the international societies' intervention into the Iraqi opposition forces created mutual distrust, which in turn prolonged political conflict in post-war era. Therefore, an analysis of the historical and international impacts on opposition forces is necessary to understand the reasons for the political struggles in the post-conflict countries.
This article sheds light on the two main Iraqi Islamist parties, the Da'wa Party and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and clarifies their changing policies under the influence of the host countries and international politics. It also makes clear how the political conflict in post-war Iraq reflected these changes. Scholars of Iraqi politics have discussed the reasons of political conflict in post-war Iraq as following: (1) sectarian conflicts as a result of the artificiality of the Iraqi state and (2) struggles for the mobilization of votes in elections. Against these arguments, this article considers the historical and international impacts on the formerly exiled Islamist ruling parties as a more significant factor in explaining the reasons for political conflict in post-war Iraq.
This article clarifies how political mobilization affects voter turnout in a post-conflict society by analyzing the Iraqi case using survey data. Voter turnout was high in post-war Iraq. However, the voter turnout in the fourth election, held in May 2018, declined by 20 percentage points from the previous one in 2014, mainly because of widespread political distrust due to corruption among political elites and their embezzlement of public funds, neglect of the people, and the breakdown of social services after the intensive operation against the so-called Islamic State (IS). Political mobilization during electoral campaigns usually encourages voters to go to polling stations. Notwithstanding, amid widespread political distrust in a post-conflict society, how does political mobilization affect voters' behavior in elections? To answer this research question, we conducted a survey experiment during the 2018 electoral campaign to scrutinize the effects of political mobilization on voters in Iraq. Through quantitative analysis of the survey data, we demonstrated that voters are more likely to refrain from visiting polling stations if they are mobilized by political parties during a campaign. Thus, political mobilization discourages voters from participating in elections when there is extensive political distrust.
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