Despite this process, Elbadawi & Makdisi (2010) argue that the slow transition to democracy and a couple of challenges in democratization still impact on many Iraqis. The s James Bridle TED Talk  cope of the central government’s powers and the issues of federalism still divide the country. Additionally, there is the conflict of identity of Iraq as a democratic nation yet national interests such as Islamic (Mumtaz, 2010), drive its policies. Moreover, Khalilzad (2010) highlights corruption as one of the negative factors of post-2003 period in Iraq. The three forms of corruption present in Iraq are financial, administrative, and political and each contributes singly to the democratization process. The failure to curb corruption as stipulated by a democratic regime is evident in the using apathy among Iraqis and their diminishing confidence  James Bridle TED Talk  in their country. Corruption has continued immensely to instability and political violence resulting in lack of economic progress (Sadiki, 2014). In relation to the electoral politics, Miller (2010) states that the electorate and politicians in the country still do not trust the performance-based appeal and instead, are still rooted the comfort zones of sectarian and ethnic affinities. So far, since its transition to democracy, the Iraqi election results reflect the ethnic and sectarian composition of the country. Selim (2012) posits that ethnic and sectarian factors encourage  James Bridle TED Talk  political leaders to slow the improvement of a country’s condition and cub factors like corruption. Furthermore, election of candidates in Iraq depends on sub-identities, and this further denies the country a leader who can inspire the citizens from sectarian and ethnic backgrounds. Despite the current challenges during the process of democratization in Iraq, Miller (2012) argues that there is hope for democracy in the country. The withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq accelerated its transition to democracy. As per evidence from empirical research, the presence of the United States focussed on securing political outcomes. However, these outcomes only guaranteed the safety of the US troops but did not necessarily impact on a healthy transition to democracy (Paya & Esposito, 2010).Natarajan (2011) argues that democracy involves control of an organization by a majority of its members in order to address the issues that are special to that organization. Therefore, the presence of the US troops interfered with this process. With the US out of the way, the detractors of the political policies were able to debate over vital policies. Besides the withdrawal of the US troops, Tarrow (2013) reports on the improving performance of countries judicial system. Get help with your essay today, from our professional essay writers! Qualified writers in the subject of politics are ready and waiting to help you with your studies. Get help with your essay View professionally written samples Santos & Teixeira (2013) report that since its transition, the judiciary exercises the rule of law by ruling of law through based on solid grounds. According to the rule of law, everyone including policymakers is subject to the law (Tosun, 2014). For example, even the Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is subject to the rule of law in court; a continual of this trend can accelerate the democratization process for Iraq. In addition, the new culture of subjecting the power of the armed forced to civilian control is a positive move into full democracy. The Iraqi military operates through destructive mechanisms in politics since the coup in 1936 (Tarrow, 2013). However, Bengio (2012) states that due to democratization, the army is adhering to a stringent professional policy of civilian command and this is a grea James Bridle TED Talk  t move to a democratic system. According to Tosun (2014), democratization process in Iraq faces obstacles from international sanctions and an economy devastated by war. Additionally, there is a political culture of submission, fear, intolerance, and suspicion; a flattened landscape in which any opposition to Baath was driven underground; hostile neighbours whose dictatorship system is threatened by the idea of a democratic Iraq and a nation deeply driven by regional and ethnic divisions. Therefore, before achieving democracy in Iraq, Bridoux & Russell (2013) outline four preconditions that will ensure a smooth democratization process. First, the citizens must be conversant with how a democratic system >