Fading federalism: Why Iraq's regionalists have lost ground

In the young democracy of Iraq, many of the critical questions of governance and political accommodation evident upon the overthrow of the Baathist regime remain unanswered. Powerful political parties advocated for, and implemented, a federalist system for Iraq upon the ratification of the permanent constitution. However, significant questions about the nature and degree of decentralization are as of yet unresolved. This paper will examine the efforts of the parties pushing for a specific version of federalism, referred to as regionalism, and explain their surprising failure to see their vision become reality. This paper will utilize social movement theory to reveal the contrast between the messages used by the regionalist parties and the changing political opportunities available in Iraq. It will find that in the five periods of post-Saddam Iraq, two significant structural shifts undermined the framing efforts of the regionalist parties and created opportunities they were unable to capitalize on.