Independence Referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan as a Means of Intra-Political Bargaining

The master thesis studies the specifics of the use of independence referendums as a means of intra-political bargaining on the basis of the case of Iraqi Kurdistan. The research identified that independence referendums that are not approved with the federal authorities and lack support of the international community can be initiated to solve intra-political issues, like in the case of Iraqi Kurdistan. The independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan was initiated by the former President of the autonomous region M. Barzani as well as Kurdistan Democratic Party to fulfill the following tasks: ensure legitimacy of M. Barzani and Kurdistan Democratic Party as well as distribute power in Iraqi Kurdistan. In addition, it was aimed to solve the following issues in relations with Iraq: the status of contested territories, distribution of budget and oil revenues. Negative influence of the referendum on the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan and on the outcome of the federal bargaining with Iraq was the result of disagreements between Kurdish political actors and lack of unanimity about the referendum.