Exploring Social Welfare Regimes in the Context of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region

Abstract

Social policy derives from the welfare regime which is embraced in the political structure. Starting from this argument, this article provides an overview of social service provisions, and in light of major welfare regimes, it examines the adopted social welfare system in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). In this article, social welfare is defined as a systematic attempt to provide the well-being of the population. Four social welfare approaches (Esping-Andersen’s three typologies of welfare regime plus socialism) are critically examined. Additionally, taking into account the politico-administrative structure, the ambiguity in the social welfare system of the KRG is explored. The article argues that the social welfare system of the KRG, after three decades of self-administration, cannot deviate from the socialist perspective inherited from the former Baathist regime, while a diversion in the KRG’s social welfare approach towards neo-liberalism is highlighted