Journal article
Civil society activism and political parties in Malaysia: Differences over local representation
Democratization, Vol.21(5), pp.824-845
2014
Abstract
Despite their importance to democratic consolidation, relationships between civil society activists and political parties have often been problematic following the downfall of authoritarian regimes. In challenging authoritarian rule in Malaysia, though, these forces have increased cooperation and jointly committed at the 2008 elections to local government reform. This was especially important for middle-class non-governmental organization (NGO) activists seeking a transformation in the political culture of parties. Moreover, state government victories by reformist Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalitions included Selangor and Penang where these NGOs are concentrated. Yet while local government reform followed, NGOs and parties placed differing emphases on elections, transcending ethnic-based representation, and checks and balances on local government power. Lacking substantial social and organizational bases, NGOs were outflanked by more powerful interests inside and outside PR parties, including those aligned with ethnic-based ideologies of representation and economic development models opposed by NGOs. NGO activists also advanced various democratic and technocratic rationales for local representation, indicating a complex ideological mix underlying their reform push. The study highlights interrelated structural and ideational factors likely to more generally constrain the capacity of middle-class NGOs to play a vanguard role in democratically transforming Malaysian political culture.
Details
- Title
- Civil society activism and political parties in Malaysia: Differences over local representation
- Authors/Creators
- G. Rodan (Author/Creator)
- Publication Details
- Democratization, Vol.21(5), pp.824-845
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Grant note
- Grant ID: 1093214
- Identifiers
- 991005543859807891
- Copyright
- Taylor & Francis
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Asia Research Centre
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Note
- Research for this article was supported by Australian Research Council funding for a Discovery Project (1093214), for which the author is grateful. Published online: 26 February 2014.
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites
Metrics
58 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Citation topics
- 6 Social Sciences
- 6.146 Anthropology
- 6.146.2281 Southeast Asian Politics
- Web Of Science research areas
- Political Science
- ESI research areas
- Social Sciences, general