SOCIAL CONTROL AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE: A field study on the Political System of Iraq and the influence of Clannism

Sammanfattning: This thesis raises the question of the political system of Iraq, reformed post-2003 invasion. It will further examine what political structure is applied, clientelist, or programmatic. An illustration of the significance of Iraqi clans in society and how that leads to Clannism is presented. The main objective is to get a profound understanding of how the Iraqi political system is vulnerable to Clannism. The empirical material used in the results is gathered through interviews conducted in the field of Baghdad, Iraq. The informants are political actors acquiring differing power positions in diverse agencies, parties, and organizations. Activists from Non-Governmental organizations were also interviewed in order to gain a complementary perspective. The central finding is that the connection between Clannism and Clientelism is a factor preventing the development of the political system towards programmatic politics. This is a result of the social control that the clans acquire.