Surveys: More Iraqis Want Democracy

[Barrett808]

Surveys: More Iraqis Want Democracy
By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

PHOENIX - Iraqis are likely to say they want to live in a democracy, though they don't necessarily understand how it works.

Some pollsters who have done nationwide surveys of Iraq (news - web sites) in recent months talked about their findings at a meeting this week of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.

One barrier to democracy is that many in the country need more information about how it would work, their research suggests.

"There's the sense that people in Iraq know they want democracy, but they don't know how to get there," said Christoph Sahm, director of Oxford Research International.

...

Richard Burkholder, director of international polling for Gallup, said the type of government Iraqis preferred was a multiparty democracy like those in many Western European countries.

"Very low down the list is an Islamic theocracy, in which mullahs and religious leaders have a lot of influence, such as in Iran," said Burkholder, who polled in Baghdad in August and nationwide in late March and early April for CNN and USA Today.

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