In Iraq, the Promise of Democracy

Fascinating profile in the Times today of Ali Dwai, governor of Maysan Province in Iraq and something of a folk hero. He came out of the Sadrist movement, which was very strong in this region, and he got his job as part of the deal by which the Sadrists supported a second term for Prime Minister al-Maliki in return for various goodies.

But now his proudest claim is to be "a son of Iraq," and his supporters say, "He takes care of everyone. He doesn’t make any difference between a Muslim or a Christian." He devotes his efforts to making the electricity and the sewers work, and to making his constituents feel like he cares about them:

Thursdays are reserved for constituents. He meets them one-on-one in his large reception hall, sometimes doling out cash from a discretionary fund, as he did recently when a young man admitted he could not afford to pay for his fiancée to have her hair done before their wedding.

Democracy is a risk; for a new democracy like Iraq, it is something of a leap into the dark. When it works, it can unite people behind a leader and make them feel like they all have some say in the outcome. A democracy is uniquely responsive to the wishes of its citizens, which makes a functioning democracy great thing to behold. Of course, sometimes instead it only increases tensions between competing groups, as campaigns become outpourings of anger or innuendo, which is what has happened in much of the rest of Iraq.

When it works, democracy also molds itself to local conditions and traditions. Ali Dwai's Thursday receptions are exactly the way leaders throughout the region have met their followers for a thousand years. By combining the smiling politician, the technocrat, and the tribal sheikh, he has given Iraqis a model of what democracy can be. We can only hope it spreads.