Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T06:50:54.318Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The 2008 Malaysian Elections: An End to Ethnic Politics?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2016

Thomas B. Pepinsky
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Malaysia's twelfth general elections, held on March 8, 2008, dealt a stunning blow to the incumbent Barisan Nasional regime. For the first time since 1969, the coalition did not receive its customary two-thirds majority in the lower house of parliament. Moreover, the opposition was able to form governments in five out of eleven peninsular Malaysian states. This article uses electoral, economic, and demographic data to test a number of potential explanations for these outcomes. Evidence indicates that the regime's decreased majority is the consequence of non-Malay voters' rejecting the incumbent regime in favor of secular opposition parties.

Keywords

Malaysiaelectionsauthoritarianismdemocratizationethnic politics
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 87 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 

References

Acemoglu, Daron, and Robinson, James A. 2006. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bank Negara Malaysia. 2008. Monthly Statistical Bulletin March 2008. Kuala Lumpur: Bank Negara Malaysia.Google Scholar
Brownlee, Jason. 2008. “Bound to Rule: Party Institutions and Regime Trajectories in Malaysia and the Philippines.” Journal of East Asian Studies 8, 1: 89–118.Google Scholar
Case, William. 2004. “New Uncertainties for an Old Pseudo-Democracy: The Case of Malaysia.” Comparative Politics 31, 1: 83–104.Google Scholar
Case, William. 2005. “Southeast Asia's Hybrid Regimes: When Do Voters Change Them?” Journal of East Asian Studies 5, 2: 215–237.Google Scholar
Case, William. 2008. “Malaysia in 2007: High Corruption and Low Opposition.” Asian Survey 48, 1: 47–54.Google Scholar
Crouch, Harold. 1996. Government and Society in Malaysia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Faaland, Just, Parkinson, Jack, and Saniman, Rais. 2003. Growth and Ethnic Inequality: Malaysia's New Economic Policy, 2nd ed. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications and Distributors Sdn Bhd.Google Scholar
Funston, N. J. 1980. Malay Politics in Malaysia: A Study of the United Malays National Organisation and Party Islam. Kuala Lumpur: Heinemann Educational Books (Asia).Google Scholar
Gan, Steven. 2002. “Virtual Democracy in Malaysia.” Nieman Reports 56, 2: 65–67.Google Scholar
Geddes, Barbara. 1999. “What Do We Know About Democratization After Twenty Years?” Annual Review of Political Science 2: 115–144.Google Scholar
Government of Malaysia. 2006. Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006–2010. Putrajaya: Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister's Department.Google Scholar
Greene, Kenneth. 2007. Why Dominant Parties Lose: Mexico's Democratization in Comparative Perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan, and Kaufman, Robert R. 1995. The Political Economy of Democratic Transitions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hilley, John. 2001. Malaysia: Mahathirism, Hegemony and the New Opposition. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Howard, Marc Morjé, and Roessler, Philip G. 2006. “Liberalizing Electoral Outcomes in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes.” American Journal of Political Science 50, 2: 365–381.Google Scholar
Hwang, In-Won. 2003. Personalized Politics: The Malaysian State Under Mahathir. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.Google Scholar
Khoo, Boo Teik. 2008. “The Monkeys Strike Back.” Aliran Monthly 28, 2.Google Scholar
King, Gary. 1997. A Solution to the Ecological Inference Problem: Reconstructing Individual Behavior from Aggregate Data. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
King, Gary, Rosen, Ori, Tanner, Martin A., and Wagner, Alexander F. 2008. “Ordinary Economic Voting Behavior in the Extraordinary Election of Adolf Hitler.” Journal of Economic History 68, 4.Google Scholar
Lee, Ban Chen. 2008. “Sistem Dua Barisan Dalam Pembentukan?” www.malaysiakini.com/columns/79696 (accessed May 15, 2008).Google Scholar
Magaloni, Beatriz. 2006. Voting for Autocracy: Hegemonic Party Survival and Its Demise in Mexico. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Milne, R. S., and Mauzy, Diane K. 1999. Malaysian Politics Under Mahathir. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Nair, Sheila. 2007. “The Limits of Protest and Prospects for Reform in Malaysia.” Critical Asian Studies 39, 3: 339–368.Google Scholar
Noor, Farish A. 2008. “Now See What Happens When You Play Around with the Keris?” www.aliran.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=499:now-see-what-happens-when-you-play-around-with-the-keris&catid=55:2008&Itemid=40 (accessed May 16, 2008).Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo, and Schmitter, Philippe C. 1986. Transitions from Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions About Uncertain Democracies. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Ong, Kian Ming. 2008a. “Making Sense of the Political Tsunami,” www.malaysiakini.com/news/79604 (accessed May 15, 2008).Google Scholar
Ong, Kian Ming. 2008b. “Who Gains Most from Longer Campaign Period?” www.malaysiakini.com/news/78483 (accessed May 15, 2008).Google Scholar
Ong, Kian Ming, and Welsh, Bridget. 2007. “Malaysia After 50 Years: More Sophisticated Voters, More Sophisticated Politicians?” Paper presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, Boston.Google Scholar
Ooi, Jeff. 2008. “Tsunami,” www.jeffooi.com/2008/03/its_a_tsunami.php (accessed May 4, 2008).Google Scholar
Pepinsky, Thomas B. 2007. “Malaysia: Turnover Without Change.” Journal of Democracy 18, 1: 113–127.Google Scholar
Pillay, Subramaniam. 2007. “Hindraf Rally: A Plea of the Dispossessed?” Aliran Monthly 27, 10.Google Scholar
Rosen, Ori, Jiang, Wenxin, King, Gary, and Tanner, Martin A. 2001. “Bayesian and Frequentist Inference for Ecological Inference: The R x C Case.” Statistica Neerlandica 55, 2: 134–156.Google Scholar
Slater, Dan. 2003. “Iron Cage in an Iron Fist: Authoritarian Institutions and the Personalization of Power in Malaysia.” Comparative Politics 36, 1: 81–101.Google Scholar
Utusan Online. 2008. “Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12,” www.utusan.com.my/utusan/special.asp?pr=pilihanraya2008 (accessed May 15, 2008).Google Scholar
von Vorys, Karl. 1975. Democracy Without Consensus: Communalism and Political Stability in Malaysia. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Weiss, Meredith L. 2000. “The 1999 Malaysian General Elections: Issues, Insults, and Irregularities.” Asian Survey 40, 3: 413–435.Google Scholar
Welsh, Bridget. 2004. “Real Change? Elections in the Reformasi Era.” In The State of Malaysia: Ethnicity, Equity and Reform, ed. Gomez, Edmund Terence, 130–156. London: RoutledgeCurzon.Google Scholar
Welsh, Bridget. 2008a. “Election Post-Mortem: Top 10 Factors,” www.malaysiakini.com/news/79677 (accessed May 15, 2008).Google Scholar
Welsh, Bridget. 2008b. “Malaysia's Democratic Opening,” www.worldbulletin.net/author_article_detail.php?id=1609 (accessed May 15, 2008).Google Scholar