["Nations and Nationalism, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\nWhat is the nature of Iraq's consociational power‐sharing system, and what mechanisms drive its operation in practice? This paper argues that Iraq's consociationalism operates through a dual‐layer structure: macro‐level inter‐communal arrangements and micro‐level intra‐communal agreements. Drawing on original interviews and focus groups with Iraqi elites and civil society representatives, the study demonstrates, through an analysis of the 2021–2022 government formation crisis, how the collapse of intra‐communal coordination undermined macro‐level bargaining, destabilising the broader consociational framework. By theorising the interactive effects of internal fragmentation and inter‐group negotiations, this framework offers new insights into the dynamics of power‐sharing in deeply divided societies beyond the Iraqi case.\n"]