Overview

The historic electoral defeat suffered in 2018 by Barisan Nasional (BN), which had ruled Malaysia for over half a century since independence, raised high expectations for electoral reform. Wide-ranging reform recommendations were indeed advanced but clearly these were complicated by the ethnic dimension and required a sustained effort to succeed. Prospects for their implementation were dimmed by the dramatic fall of the 22-month-old Pakatan Harapan government, reduced political activity during the Covid lockdown and in recent times the revived fortunes of BN-aligned political forces. Taking all of these factors into account, this impressive study takes stock of the state of democracy in Malaysia by offering readers a deep but readily understandable analysis of an array of electoral reform issues. Produced by a team of scholars ranging from very senior to promising younger academics, it also draws on the experiences of other countries and provides insights and lessons for countries wishing to undertake electoral reform after transitioning from authoritarianism. The result is a resource that will interest the politically engaged as well as scholars of political process, a study that is both wide-ranging and focused, and a primer on electoral politics that will be of wide interest far beyond Malaysia.

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9788776943219

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Reviews

""In a brilliant chapter entitled 'The politics of malapportionment and electoral reform in a dominant party regime', Kai Ostwald provides a detailed examination of the way delineation exercises have been carried out during the 6-decade rule of the BN government.... This book adds to the earlier analyses of the elections and the need for electoral reforms in Malaysia but goes further not only in covering issues not covered in previous studies but also in bringing the reader up to date with electoral reform developments. Written by both local and international scholars the book provides the reader with a better understanding of the issues and problems involved in conducting elections in a racially divided society like Malaysia.""-- ""Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS)"" ""The book does an excellent job in stock-taking on the demands and dynamics of electoral reform and multiparty competition, and expanding the debate on electoral system change, both in width and depth.... This book would be most useful to students of electoral authoritarianism interested in the power and limitations of the politics of electoral reform, and all who are concerned with the future of democracy and ethnic relations in Malaysia.""-- ""Democratization"" ""While this work focusses largely on Malaysia, there are frequent references to other parliamentary systems and the analysis lends itself to wider applications and debates.... This work will withstand the test of time well. It is an insightful deep dive into a very unique window of time following the 2018 general election, when Malaysia began important processes of reform. In tracing the trajectory of these processes as well as unpacking the varying rationales for the different types of reform, it will also be of interest to those interested in studying democratic transitions, particularly in countries with Westminster systems.""-- ""Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography""

Author Information

: A graduate of Sciences Po in Paris, Helen Ting is an associate professor at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), The National University of Malaysia (UKM). In addition to her work on electoral democracy, she has published widely on issues related to nationalism, identity and multiculturalism. Donald L. Horowitz is the James B. Duke Professor of Law and Political Science Emeritus at Duke University. A close student of Malaysia, he has written extensively on electoral systems, ethnic conflict and accommodation, and constitutional design. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has served as President of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, and lectured at universities around the world.

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