The social determinants of public opinion in Iraq

Abstract

Public opinion as a social phenomenon has different dimensions. It stems from the heart of circumstance, reality, and place, and all of these aspects are related to the society and are closely related to it and have their effects on the citizen, who is basically considered the party from which public opinion crystallizes, and as it is known that every society, including the Iraqi society, Peculiarities related to its demographic structure, the formations of its societal divisions, and the level of its culture, which by virtue of the citizen’s link to that societal structure, structurally and morally, must in one way or another affect that link and the extent of its weakness and strength in the outcomes and nature of public opinion held by the Iraqi citizen. The community and its religious and clan institutions, as well as the societal structure of the Iraqi society, which is known for its complexity with ethnic, sectarian, religious and national ramifications, which affected the type and level of culture of the Iraqi citizen, which was reflected in the citizen’s attitudes and had an impact on his behavior and orientations, and consequently the public opinion held by the individual.