Malaysia's 2008 General Election – Transition from Single-party Dominance?

Leading theories of transitions from single-party dominant systems begin with economic crisis, the party's loss of patronage resources, and elite-level defections. The multiparty elections that are then held exert no independent effect, but instead register neutrally the party's decline an...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: William Case
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2010-06-01
Series:Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/186810341002900204
id doaj-c975312b1d214357a55ac53ea6488104
record_format Article
spelling doaj-c975312b1d214357a55ac53ea64881042020-11-25T03:52:02ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs1868-10341868-48822010-06-012910.1177/186810341002900204Malaysia's 2008 General Election – Transition from Single-party Dominance?William Case0A Professor in the Department of Asian and International Studies and the Director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) at City University of Hong KongLeading theories of transitions from single-party dominant systems begin with economic crisis, the party's loss of patronage resources, and elite-level defections. The multiparty elections that are then held exert no independent effect, but instead register neutrally the party's decline and the democratization of politics. This paper, however, shifts attention from the dominant party to citizens and elections in non-crisis conditions. It argues that on key dimensions citizens assess the dominant party's legitimacy or worthiness of support. Further, where they grow critical of its policy outputs, they scrutinize more closely its conformity to procedures. And as they anticipate that their voting preferences will be thwarted by electoral manipulations, they vote in protest, perhaps producing a “liberalizing electoral outcome.” Elections, then, do not simply indicate the dominant party's decline. By deepening alienation, they help citizens to cause it. Analysis is set in Malaysia, long an exemplar of single-party dominance, but recently a case in which the government was dealt a striking electoral setback.https://doi.org/10.1177/186810341002900204
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author William Case
spellingShingle William Case
Malaysia's 2008 General Election – Transition from Single-party Dominance?
Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs
author_facet William Case
author_sort William Case
title Malaysia's 2008 General Election – Transition from Single-party Dominance?
title_short Malaysia's 2008 General Election – Transition from Single-party Dominance?
title_full Malaysia's 2008 General Election – Transition from Single-party Dominance?
title_fullStr Malaysia's 2008 General Election – Transition from Single-party Dominance?
title_full_unstemmed Malaysia's 2008 General Election – Transition from Single-party Dominance?
title_sort malaysia's 2008 general election – transition from single-party dominance?
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs
issn 1868-1034
1868-4882
publishDate 2010-06-01
description Leading theories of transitions from single-party dominant systems begin with economic crisis, the party's loss of patronage resources, and elite-level defections. The multiparty elections that are then held exert no independent effect, but instead register neutrally the party's decline and the democratization of politics. This paper, however, shifts attention from the dominant party to citizens and elections in non-crisis conditions. It argues that on key dimensions citizens assess the dominant party's legitimacy or worthiness of support. Further, where they grow critical of its policy outputs, they scrutinize more closely its conformity to procedures. And as they anticipate that their voting preferences will be thwarted by electoral manipulations, they vote in protest, perhaps producing a “liberalizing electoral outcome.” Elections, then, do not simply indicate the dominant party's decline. By deepening alienation, they help citizens to cause it. Analysis is set in Malaysia, long an exemplar of single-party dominance, but recently a case in which the government was dealt a striking electoral setback.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/186810341002900204
work_keys_str_mv AT williamcase malaysias2008generalelectiontransitionfromsinglepartydominance
_version_ 1724484677477072896