The aim of this article is to reflect on the viability of democratisation processes in countries lacking in any previous history of political systems based on political pluralism and citizen representation. Iraq’s most recent history represents a paradigmatic example of the factors that explain the success or failure of processes of establishing and consolidating democracy in the world. The article analyses certain factors of the country’s social, political and economic structure which not only help to explain the development of events during Western occupation, they also demonstrate that the democratisation of Iraq was, and continues to be, an unfeasible objective for the short and medium-term future.