Conclusion

Abstract

In the U.S. House of Representatives, congressional members were out of sorts. It was 2006 and the American war in Iraq was flailing. Billions were being spent on infrastructural development as well as military forces. A constitution had been written to inspire cooperation between the Shi’ia majority and the Sunni and Kurdish minorities, yet sectarian violence continued. Sunni parliamentarians who had won in recent elections— admittedly a minority of the seats—were boycotting the legislature. And many in the Kurdish territories aspired to statehood, despite the generous autonomy they had been provided. Granted, the Democratic majority disapproved of George W. Bush’s war and professed empathy for the Iraqis, but yet the lack of political reconciliation appeared incomprehensible. It seemed like the Iraqi population did not even want peace.KeywordsCentral GovernmentInformal InstitutionPolitical ReconciliationDemocratic MajorityCongressional MemberThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.