Legal Pluralism and Fragmented Sovereignty in Iraq

Abstract

In post-con ictsettings,thestate'sauthorityhasbeenunderminedanditsinsti- tutions arestrugglingtoreestablishlegitimacy.Suchsettingscreateapowervacuum that alternativeorderscan ll.Wherestateandnon-statelegalorderscoexistwithin the sameterritory,whatfactorsdetermineindividualpreferencesamongalternative providersofjusticeandorder?Systematic,empiricalresearchonthisquestionis lacking,particularlyintheMiddleEast.Throughaseriesofvignetteexperimentscon- ducted amongSunniArabsintheIraqicityofMosul,wherethepopulationhaslong beenexposedtonumerousjusticesystems(state,tribal,andIslamic),thisresearch demonstrates whichtypesofpeoplearemostlikelytopreferwhichtypeoflegalsys- tems andprovidessomeinsightsastowhy.Theresults llagapintheextantresearch bycausallyidentifyingfactorsacrossdisputecasesthatdriveselectionofonetypeof system overanother.Disputeswithinthefamilyaregenerallydirectedtowardscus- tomary legalorders,thoughparticipantspreferthatmorecostlycasesgotothestate legal system.Sectarianoutgroupdynamicsarenotasimpactfulasonemightexpect. ObservationaldataanalysesdemonstratethatMoslawisfaceadi cultchoicebetween a highlycorrupt,buthighlypowerfulstatesystemandlessenforceable,seeminglyless corrupt non-stateorders.Womenandrespondentswithlowermonthlyincomestend to prefernon-stateforums. Six post-surveyfocusgroupsrevealthatratherthanchallengingthestate,non-state orders playauniqueroleinlocallevelgovernance.Customarysystemso ercitizensa more restorativeroutefordisputeresolutionthatfocusesonthemaintenanceofsocial relationships amongcommunitymembers.Thismayexplainwhywomentendtoshun the statesystem,whichisexpectedbyresearchinotherpost-con ictcontextstobetter protect theirrights.Asthepoormaynotbeabletoa ordthecostsassociatedwith lawyersandstatecourtfees,theirpreferenceforcustomarysystemsmayresultfrom structural inequalities.These ndingscontributetoongoingdebatesoverhowmuch prevailingmodelsofpeaceandstatebuildingshouldbereformedfromchampioning state-centeredapproachestoencouragingcomplementaritybetweencustomaryforms of disputeresolutionandstateones.Thisresearchhasimportantimplicationsfor e orts bygovernmentsanddevelopmentpractitionersseekingtomaintainpeaceand order inareaswherestatelegitimacyandsovereigntyislimited. 2