Ethnic and religious minorities have played a significant role in the long history of Kurdistan. At an official level, their political position was significantly strengthened with the advent of autonomy for the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq in 1992. Most importantly, a quota system was established that reserved seats for several minority groups in the Kurdistan Parliament, often cited as an example of tolerance for diversity and respect for minority rights. Nevertheless, there is a lack of empirical research examining how ethnic and religious quotas affect democratic stability, quality of representation, and opportunities to represent authentic interests within the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The politicians who occupy the reserved seats have come under criticism for merely supporting the policy programs of the dominant Kurdish parties, which deprives ethnic and religious minority groups of authentic representation and exposes the minority parties to allegations that they are politically exploited. This article analyzes the dynamics of minority political participation in Iraqi Kurdistan, how representation has been affected by the dominance of the ruling parties, and factors that guide the behavior of minority politicians while serving in quota-allocated positions. It also examines the effects of reserving seats through the quota system on the political behavior of minority groups. To these ends, this article focuses on parliamentary quotas and their impact on democratic stability, decision-making, and the empowerment of minority groups in the Kurdistan Region.

中文翻译：

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伊拉克库尔德斯坦的少数派代表和保留的立法席位

少数民族和宗教少数群体在库尔德斯坦的悠久历史中发挥了重要作用。在官方层面，随着 1992 年伊拉克北部库尔德斯坦地区自治的到来，他们的政治地位得到显着加强。最重要的是，建立了配额制度，为库尔德斯坦议会中的几个少数群体保留席位，通常被称为容忍多样性和尊重少数群体权利的例子。然而，缺乏实证研究来检验种族和宗教配额如何影响民主稳定性、代表质量以及在库尔德斯坦地区政府 (KRG) 内代表真实利益的机会。占据保留席位的政客因仅仅支持库尔德占主导地位的政党的政策计划而受到批评，这剥夺了少数族裔和宗教少数群体的真实代表权，并使少数党受到政治剥削的指控。本文分析了伊拉克库尔德斯坦少数族裔政治参与的动态，执政党的主导地位如何影响代表性，以及指导少数族裔政治家在担任配额分配职位时的行为的因素。它还考察了通过配额制度保留席位对少数群体政治行为的影响。为此，本文重点讨论议会配额及其对民主稳定、决策、