The consequence of an economic boom on the perception of democracy, government performance and public service: Iraqi Kurdistan as a case study

The economy of Kurdistan has been semi-independent for years, while the Baghdad government had decided to devote 17 per cent of the Iraqi budget towards it. Due to this oil revenue, the budget of Iraq as a whole increased rapidly, and this was reflected in the Iraqi Kurdistan budget. However, in April 2015, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) started to make its economy independent from Baghdad through exporting their oil directly. This study examines the implications of an economic boom on the perceptions of government performance in relation to the provision of public services, the development of democracy and government performance in general. The research adopts a survey method (n=224) with responses from adults aged 18 and over. The research findings suggest that the economic boom reflected negatively on the perceptions of the majority of citizens regarding the government’s performance. The responses indicate that this was because of the lack of public services rather than the development of democracy by the government. The small number of respondents who held a positive perception regarding the government was due to the belief that the government provided sound security rather than sound economic policy and public services with the development of democracy. The research examined the role of demographic and political background as a control variable, and the results showing that, in particular, age, gender, educational background and political affiliation were significant.