Davis 393a discursive space in which reasoned discourse can occur, and a participa-
tory space open to all segments of society, then it can direct us to a better
understanding of the possible origins of processes in Arab society that can
promote ideas and institutions that underscore tolerance and dialogue,
core values that underlie all forms of democratic governance. The signifi-
cance of the public sphere (and civil society), beyond providing a political
and social space for the individual citizen, is the manner in which it helps
provide a solid foundation for processes of democratization.
rab notions of democracy often diverge from those in the West. A
This is especially true when comparing Arab and late industrializing coun-
tries. In the latter, hegemonic notions of the market, especially after the
collapse of communism, have marginalized the idea of social democracy,
such as practiced through the American New Deal policies of the 1930s,
for example, and instead focused on a narrow and formalistic definition of
democracy organized around the notion of competitive elections and the
circulation of elites.^15 Throughout the twentieth century, Iraqi notions of
democracy consistently placed emphasis on freedom from foreign domi-
nation [al-istiqlāl al-tāmm] and social justice, usually referred to by the
nationalist movement as “the social question” [al-qad.iyya al-ijtimā‘iyya].
This understanding of democracy signifies that, in the modern period, the
majority of Iraqis have not viewed political freedoms exercised in a context
devoid of national independence and economic security as meaningful.^16
These concerns suggest a contradiction between the political discourse
of the Iraqi public and the emphasis on laissez-faire economics and state
withdrawal from the market that is so central to much Western theorizing
of democratic processes and transitions. Indeed, the failure of the rigid
market-oriented “neoconservative” vision of democracy and its lack of
resonance with Iraqi society was evident in the incredible failure of United
States policy in Iraq under the Bush administration beginning in 2003.^17
Institutional manifestations of the Iraqi public sphere
Historically, the public sphere manifested itself in Iraq in a multiplicity
of sites and venues. The first site entailed the rise of poetic expression in
the late nineteenth century. Whereas poetry had traditionally been largely