Análisis de la influencia del tipo de cemento y elemento en los resultados

The Role of the Researcher

The field of political science has an established literature on the status of the researcher as an ‘insider’ and an ‘outsider’ and the effect on conducting fieldwork and academic

research (see; e.g. Adler and Adler 1987; Horowitz 1986; Krieger 1985). The insider- outsider divide has been categorised in terms of third party positions such as an explicit outsider and ‘an apparent insider’ (Carling et al. 2014). In the context of Iraq, such categorisation could be translated as ethnicity, language, political affiliation, religion and religious sect and names. An outsider might not have access to the extensive background information on the different groups but, nevertheless, could treat groups objectively without bias. An insider might have extensive knowledge and experience of the context but the potential to be inclined to the group of which he is a member remains a challenge to the objectivity of research.

In this case, in this thesis, there is a combination of both outsider, as a researcher from the University of Warwick, and insider as a Kurdish Iraqi Sunni Muslim. One of the potential drawbacks is previous knowledge of those participating in the interviews and personal attitudes towards the issues under examination. The challenge was to remain objective, and gain the participants’ acceptance as an unbiased outsider. By developing the sampling method for all groups to be presented in this study according to their numerical strength, this challenge was dealt with satisfactorily. During the interviews, all groups were treated equally in terms of allocation of time.

The researcher had the advantage of sharing ethnicity with the Kurds, religious sect with the Sunnis and with the Shia, the fact that the researcher’s middle name was Ali, all helped to engender trust and smooth communication.92

As an insider, it is crucial to be aware of personal bias, and attempts have been made to replace it with an all- inclusive attitude towards the Iraqi political elite representing different groups.

In fieldwork, language remains one of the most important tools. All contact with the Arab political elites was in Arabic and it was particularly important that Arabic words were used that captured the essence of English academic terminology and concepts.

92 _{The name ‘Ali’ played an important role in helping to build connections with the Shia political elite.} Had the name being Omar, this would have been a great barrier to even the consideration of answering many of the questions asked.Those two names are religiously sensitive in Iraq, especially in Baghdad; the Shia favour the name Ali as it is the name of a cousin of the Prophet (his rightful successor), and they dislike the name Omar. Omar, the second Khalifa according to Shia narrative, had prevented Ali’s immediate succession after the Prophet – the Sunnis reject this. One of the high official Sunni political elite informed me that in 2013 in Baghdad alone, 384 people were assassinated just because of their names (Omar) and he had the list documented.

This was also the case in relation to the Kurdish language and the researcher’s status as an insider. Simple translation of terms had the capacity to lead to misunderstanding, without the knowledge of how such terms might be interpreted by individuals within an elite. The translation of a political term is a prime example of when there might be a need to know how certain terms are used in the Iraqi context, as opposed to the application of mere linguistic expertise For example, in Iraq the political elite use al- tawafuq for political agreement, while the general term al-tawafuqi refers to the Iraqi political system, the two are very different and only a researcher with insider status could correctly appreciate the implications of using one term or the other.

Voluntary Participation

This research is based on studying groups of politically significant people, the key political elite and decision makers in Iraq. Awareness of their rights is essential and various ethical concerns have been taken into account before, during, and after this research. The first principle was that participation in interviews or surveys was completely voluntary, anyone was entitled to decline if they so wished, and those that did volunteer had the absolute right to withdraw at any time for any reason.

Informed Consent

Another principle closely related to voluntary participation is informed consent. All participants were fully informed about the purpose and potential benefits of this research, the process through which participants would be selected, procedures that would be followed, and any risks that might be involved were discussed. This principle was taken extremely seriously since its correct application formed the basis for other ethical principles that were also adopted. All the participants were drawn from various political elites and included members of parliament representing different sections and sects. Informed consent was crucial, since to ensure the integrity of the outcomes, each participant had to consent to participation and be briefed on the objectives. In practice, however, informed consent required more than only introducing the procedure and the objective of the study, the researcher had to be entirely open about his own background and provide reassurance that he was not biased towards any group,

Privacy

The right to privacy gave participants the opportunity to decide what information they were willing to share publicly. During previous fieldwork in Iraq, participants were selective in their responses, and at times raised points on certain issues only on the understanding that they would not to be quoted on that specific information, for example, in cases of discrimination and corruption. This research has factored that kind of issue into account and the thesis has been produced on the basis that the participants know best why they should or should not be quoted. In a highly politicised, and at times violent, environment, where different sects and ethnic groups constantly strive for a larger share of power, especially in the House of Representatives, privacy is of the essence. The right to anonymity for any individual providing information is of paramount concern. Responses to the surveys in this research are all anonymous and only gender and sect/ethnic backgrounds were indicated in the results.

Harm and Safety

Research that could cause harm to participants is fundamentally unacceptable. In the case of this research, harm could result in indirect ways, based on publication of named responses to politically sensitive questions. The interviewees in this study, however, in the main, gave their consent to the content of the interview being published with the exception of a few that indicated which information they did not want to be revealed. This study takes safety as a fundamental requirement and ensures the dignity, rights, safety and well-being of all involved, avoiding unreasonable risk or harm to participants. In that vein, the safety of the researcher was also an issue for appropriate consideration, since the work involved extensive and frequent travel in potentially volatile areas over extended periods of time, on occasion as long as two months. Sensible precautions were taken to minimise any potential risk.

Excellence and Integrity

The researcher has at all times striven for excellence in the conduct of this research, aiming to design and produce work of the highest quality and ethical standards. In relation to integrity, all legal, regulatory and ethical requirements in the United Kingdom and in Iraq have been fully observed. Further, the need to maintain a knowledge and awareness of relevant and current legislative and regulatory

requirements, codes of practice of professional bodies, University policies and procedures, including the access of support and guidance provided by Research Governance & Ethics, have all been acknowledged. The research will be appropriately reviewed, and necessary regulatory ethical approval will be obtained.

Honesty, Accountability and Cooperation

To foster and support honesty in relation to this study, the research design, methodology, data, findings and results have been made available to scrutiny, subject to appropriate confidentiality conditions applicable to personal or commercially protected data. There are fully auditable records of timesheets, participants’ consent, all relevant approvals, and access to, and interpretations of, any associated legal agreements, grant terms and conditions. Additionally, the wider consequences of this work in terms of the need to engage critically with the practical, ethical and intellectual challenges that are inherent in the conduct of high quality research have been taken into consideration. The requirements and guidance of any professional bodies in this field of research, especially those of supervisors, have provided an essential contribution to the outcome of this study.

4.8

Conclusion

This chapter outlined the research design of this thesis with reference to (a) its philosophical worldview, (b) its strategy of inquiry, and (c) the research methods deployed. It was argued that it is the philosophical worldview, pragmatism, that provides a rationale for mixed methods research. The chapter also identified triangulation in the strategy of inquiry, which approaches the main research question from multiple angles to cross validate the findings of this thesis. It also examined the combining of qualitative and quantitative methods for the collection of relevant data. Interviews were deemed the most appropriate tool to ascertain how a political elite defines democracy, and how they define it, while surveys were used to assess their preferences for a number of political institutions and to examine their support for different institutional arrangements.

The chapter explained the sampling procedure used, including how the groups were sampled according to their numerical strengths in the Iraqi House of Representatives. The thesis uses data collected from three different surveys on three topics: elite support for political institutions (Chapter 6); elite support for federalism (Chapter 7); and, political elite preferences on controversial themes in the Iraqi constitution (Chapter 8). Interviews with members of elites were also conducted on political views on democracy (Chapter 5), their preferences for Iraq’s federalism and also issues in the Iraqi constitution (Chapter 7 and 8).

This chapter acknowledged that the research design has both technical and methodological limitations. The technical limits included time, the difficulty in synthesizing qualitative and quantitative findings, the diversity of data and the process of interpreting and analysing different types of data. These concerns were addressed by employing the triangulation strategy to synthesise the different types of data. In terms of analysing the issues of complexity, the qualitative and quantitate questions asked are on the same topic in each chapter. Another methodological concern of this thesis is that pragmatism is regarded as another form of positivism, which rarely reflects constructionist or subjectivist views. This concern is mitigated through an approach that, in addition to using surveys and quantitative measures, also utilises qualitative methods that focus on meaning, symbolism and aspects that further the norms and values of the political elite. This is done with the help of in depth interviews with members of the elite.

Finally, the ethical considerations sections discussed both the role of the researcher and the safety of the participant. In particular, the issues relating to an insider and outsider in conducting research on political questions, and with participants who hold political positions, were emphasised. The researcher, being an insider, has managed the issue of bias using two methods; asking similar questions in elite interviews, and adopting numerical representation in surveys (sampling). The next chapter will be the first empirical chapter and will discuss democracy in Iraq as a Muslim majority country. It will focus on how the Iraqi political elite, as members of different ethno-religious groups, define democracy.

CHAPTER 5:

How the Iraqi Political Elite Define Democracy

5.1

Introduction

This chapter examines the views of the Iraqi political elite towards democracy and identifies what members of that elite mean by democracy. In the light of their views, the instrumental value of democracy, in terms of what goods or values it might deliver (as opposed to its intrinsic qualities, or values) is explored. The values that the political elite wish to promote through their interpretation of democracy, and the goals they hope to achieve, are also fully articulated and the position of the political elite representing different ethno-religious groups in Iraq, in relation to the two ideals of democracy, majoritarianism and rule through consensus, are illustrated. This chapter focuses on the question whether and to what extent that elite members of different groups in Iraq define democracy in different ways, with reference to different democratic ideals. The more specific hypothesis which is central in this chapter is as follows: the larger groups are more likely to define democracy as majoritarianism, while smaller groups are more likely define it as rule through consensus.

The context of Iraq, characterised by ethno-sectarian divisions, has made democracy a contentious subject. The views on democracy held by political elites belonging to the same religious sect but from different ethnic backgrounds, for example Sunni Kurds and Sunni Arabs, are different. Similarly, elites from the same ethnic group but from different sects, for example, Arab Sunni and Arab Shiite, also hold differing views on democracy. The practical operation of democracy has been equally problematic as the ethno-sectarian cleavages in Iraqi society have been subsumed into the governmental apparatus. Post-2003, Iraq was built on a political consensus between the three main groups and the complexity of that political system is manifest in the relationships between the three main groups around which the political system is designed. Lack of harmony between them, or the fundamental disagreement of any one of those groups with proposals, could threaten political stability and the very existence of the system itself. The ethno-religious arrangement of politics in Iraq provides the rationale for the structure of this chapter, as it approaches views on democracy through the divergent

perspectives of elite members of the three main groups; the Shia, the Sunni and the Kurds.

Iraq, in addition to the deeply divided nature of society, has a majority Muslim population where any examination of the concepts of democracy requires a preliminary understanding of the relationship between Islam and politics. Consequently, this chapter reviews the relevant literature on three issues; the Sunni-Shia divide in Islam, the relationship between Islam and politics, and the compatibility of Islam and democracy. It begins by discussing these issues as dealt with within the broader literature, and then contextualises each in the politico-religious situation of Iraq. The chapter goes on to examine the views of the three main groups on democracy. The Shia define democracy in terms of majority rule while the Sunnis are torn between the two ideals of democracy. The Kurds define it through an emphasis on attributes which equates to the consensual ideal. The views of different groups confirm the hypothesis but the findings show that within each group interpretations of democracy are subject to factors that go beyond the issue of numbers of adherents in any group. The ultimate ambitions of each group, in fact, impacts on their interpretation of democracy as an ideal. Further variables such as religion, culture and ethnicity, as well as history, grievances or alliances, also affect whether concepts of democracy are likely to be majoritarian or consensually based.

The chapter will also show that the views of the political elite matter, and moreover, their different interpretations of democracy matter since those interpretations could directly build trust or destroy it between the separate groups. It will provide an overview of different groups’ perceptions of their position in Iraq. It goes on to examine the definitions and operations of democracy as the majoritarian ideal, as a major cause of distrust between the constituent elements of the Iraqi political elite. The chapter, then, makes the case for the consensual alternative as the more appropriate for the rebuilding of trust and, hence, as a means of sustaining Iraq’s polity.