Democracy from Citizens’ Perspective

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to accomplish an exploratory execution of the citizens’ conceptualization of democracy. To achieve this goal, the researchers relied on qualitative design to conduct in-depth semi-open interviews with 24 citizens from the IKR, residing in the governorates of Erbil, Duhok, Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, and several autonomous administrations. Then, the results were summarized within several themes, such as: democracy as rights, freedom, equality and social justice; Democracy is the best political system and form of governance; Democracy is not just a Western way of life; democracy is a utopia; Democracy and religion will not be an alternative to each other. At the same time, the results of the study showed that those who have a positive view toward democracy, often stem from exigencies and expectations placed on democracy, particularly in its political dimension, especially in terms of providing the right to participate, freedom of expression, social justice in terms of distribution of wealth, roles and positions, equality before the law and providing opportunities. However, in its social and cultural facets, and as a result of comments about some of the outcomes and consequences of democracy in western countries in particular, the desire for democracy among Kurdistan citizens is lower.