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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Challenges Of Ethnic Party Adaptation In Power-Sharing Systems: Evidence From Malaysia, Sebastian Carl Dettman
Challenges Of Ethnic Party Adaptation In Power-Sharing Systems: Evidence From Malaysia, Sebastian Carl Dettman
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In authoritarian systems, ethnic power-sharing arrangements include important ethnic groups in government and decision-making while putting restraints on political competition. However, under conditions of democratization, we might expect power-sharing arrangements to fragment as political parties seize opportunities to expand their base and appeal across ethnic lines. This article draws from the case of Malaysia, where multiethnic coalitions built around ethnic parties ruled for 61 years but where increasing electoral competitiveness has destabilized coalition politics. I focus on the Democratic Action Party (DAP), one of the country's most successful parties, which has sought to build a more multiethnic support base. I …
Demographic Structure And Voting Behaviour During Democratization: Evidence From Malaysia's 2022 Election, Sebastian Carl Dettman, Thomas B. Pepinsky
Demographic Structure And Voting Behaviour During Democratization: Evidence From Malaysia's 2022 Election, Sebastian Carl Dettman, Thomas B. Pepinsky
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Malaysia’s fifteenth general election (GE15) was a milestone in the country’s democratization process, with new parties and political movements competing with established political coalitions. In this paper, we investigate how Malaysia’s cleavage structure—a central feature of Malaysia’s prior authoritarian regime—shapes electoral competition in a newly competitive political environment. We find that the “race paradigm” (Milner, Embong, and Tham 2014) remains central to explaining party strategy and coalition behavior in GE15, but that more democratic competition has increased the salience of regional differences—both between peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, and within peninsular Malaysia itself. Our analysis reveals the structural foundations of …
Screening Southeast Asia: Film, Politics, And The Emergence Of The Nation In Postwar Southeast Asia, Darlene Machell Espena
Screening Southeast Asia: Film, Politics, And The Emergence Of The Nation In Postwar Southeast Asia, Darlene Machell Espena
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
No abstract provided.
Authoritarian Innovations And Democratic Reform In The “New Malaysia”, Sebastian Carl Dettman
Authoritarian Innovations And Democratic Reform In The “New Malaysia”, Sebastian Carl Dettman
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Malaysia’s National Front coalition, one of the world’s most durable authoritarian governments, lost power in national elections held in 2018. Although incumbent turnover represents a significant step toward democratization, the reform of institutions and practices associated with political domination by the country’s Malay Muslim majority has been slowed in the face of challenges from a new configuration of opposition forces. The new opposition, which includes UMNO, the former dominant party of the National Front, has framed democratic reforms initiated by the new government – and the more multiethnic ruling government itself – as a threat to the rights of the …
Political Financing Reform: Politics, Policies, And Patronage In Malaysia, Sebastian Carl Dettman, Edmund Terence Gomez
Political Financing Reform: Politics, Policies, And Patronage In Malaysia, Sebastian Carl Dettman, Edmund Terence Gomez
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This article analyses the evolution of political finance reform debates in Malaysia, one of the world’s most durable electoral authoritarian regimes. While the reliance of the dominant party, UMNO, on unfettered resources remained unchanged, crises in Malaysia’s political environment allowed civil society actors to concretise abstract debates over reform into specific proposals. Drawing from interviews, public statements and observation, two distinct periods in this reform debate are analysed: after Najib Razak assumed power in 2009, following the unprecedented electoral success of the opposition during the 2008 general election; and after the 1MDB scandal broke in 2015. In both periods, civil …
What's Keeping Malaysia's Opposition Together?, Bridget Welsh
What's Keeping Malaysia's Opposition Together?, Bridget Welsh
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
No abstract provided.
Coalitions And Language Politics: Policy Shifts In Southeast Asia, Amy H. Liu, Jacob I. Ricks
Coalitions And Language Politics: Policy Shifts In Southeast Asia, Amy H. Liu, Jacob I. Ricks
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Why is it that some governments recognize only one language while others espouse multilingualism? Related, why are some governments able to shift language policies, and if there is a shift, what explains the direction? In this article, the authors argue that these choices are theproduct of coalitional constraints facing the government during critical junctures in history. During times of political change in the state-building process, the effective threat of an alternate linguistic group determines the emergent language policy. If the threat is low, the government moves toward monolingual policies. As the threat increases, however, the government is forced to co-opt …
Congkak, A Game That Connects Us With The World, Margaret Chan
Congkak, A Game That Connects Us With The World, Margaret Chan
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
No abstract provided.
Poetry And The Politics Of History: Revisiting Ee Tiang Hong, Kirpal Singh
Poetry And The Politics Of History: Revisiting Ee Tiang Hong, Kirpal Singh
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
The Malaysian poet Ee Tiang Hong was troubled by the fundamental changes being introduced by the leaders to ensure that Malaysia (which Ee always referred to as Malaya) became centrally a Malay nation. Not only was Ee trying his best to dissociate himself from what he termed the “mimicry of foreign birds” (i.e. the language of the colonial masters) but he was more critically searching for a new idiom which would give freshness to the rendition of the Malayan experience. While this struggle was in process, the tragedy of May 13 (1969) struck: here was a blatant illustration of the …