Roots of Resilience

L. Weiss Meredith

Description

The Roots of Resilience examines governance from the ground up in the world's two most enduring electoral authoritarian or "hybrid" regimes-Singapore and Malaysia-where politically liberal and authoritarian features are blended to evade substantive democracy. Although skewed elections, curbed civil liberties, and a dose of coercion help sustain these regimes, selectively structured state policies and patronage, partisan machines that effectively stand in for local governments, and diligently sustained clientelist relations between politicians and constituents are equally important. While key attributes of these regimes differ, affecting the scope, character, and balance among national parties and policies, local machines, and personalized linkages-and notwithstanding a momentous change of government in Malaysia in 2018-the similarity in the overall patterns in these countries confirms the salience of these dimensions. As Meredith L. Weiss shows, taken together, these attributes accustom citizens to the system in place, making meaningful change in how electoral mobilization and policymaking happen all the harder to change. This authoritarian acculturation is key to the durability of both regimes, but, given weaker party competition and party-civil society links, is stronger in Singapore than Malaysia. High levels of authoritarian acculturation, amplifying the political payoffs of what parties and politicians actually provide their constituents, explain why electoral turnover alone is insufficient for real regime change in either state.

Sujets

• Malasia
• Malaysia
• Comparative politics
• Southeast Asia
• Singapore
• Activism
• Malaisie
• Singapour

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 août 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501750069
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

THE ROOTS OF RESILIENCE

THE ROOTS OF RESILIENCE Party Machines and Grassroots Politics in Southeast Asia

MEREDITh L. WEISS

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESSITHACA AND LONDON

Copyright © 2020 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

First published 2020 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Weiss, Meredith L. (Meredith Leigh), 1972–author. Title: The roots of resilience : party machines and grassroots politics in Southeast Asia / Meredith L. Weiss. Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019039142 (print) | LCCN 2019039143 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501750045 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501750052 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501750069 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: United Malays National Organisation. | Barisan Nasional (Organization) | People’s Action Party (Singapore) | Political parties—Malaysia. | Political parties—Singapore. | Political culture—Malaysia. | Political culture— Singapore. | Democracy—Malaysia. | Democracy—Singapore. | Authoritarianism—Malaysia. | Authoritarianism—Singapore. | Malaysia— Politics and government. | Singapore—Politics and government. Classification: LCC JQ1062.A979 W45 2020 (print) | LCC JQ1062.A979 (ebook) | DDC 320.9595—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019039142 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019039143

Jacket photograph: The Pakatan Harapan rally in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, on May 16, 2018, celebrating party leader Anwar Ibrahim’s release from prison. Photograph by the author.

In memory of Fred R. von der Mehden, who got me started.

Contents

Acknowledgments Terms and Acronyms

1.  Parties, Machines, and Personalities 2.  Regimes and Resilience Reconceptualized 3.  The Convoluted Political Path to Malaysia 4.  Edging toward Sovereign Singapore 5.  Competitive Authoritarianism in Malaysia: Consolidated but Challenged 6.  Hegemonic Electoral Authoritarianism in Singapore: Firmly Entrenched 7. Drivers of Stasis and Change: Will the Pattern Hold?

Notes Bibliography Index

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1

24

48

77

108

154

200

209 241 261

Acknowledgments

This book complements a comparative analysis of political networks and resource flows in the context of Southeast Asian elections, together with coinvestigators Edward Aspinall, Allen Hicken, and Paul Hutchcroft. Primary funding for that project, which has overlapped with this one, has been from the Australian Re search Council (DP140103114), supplemented for Malaysia’s 2013 general elec tion by a grant from Universiti Malaya, in collaboration with Edmund Terence Gomez and Surin Kaur. The University at Albany provided additional funds, par ticularly for my research in Singapore. I benefited immensely, as well, from time and space to think and write at the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs in 2016 and Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies in 2017, as well as from visiting stints for research at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS–Yusuf Ishak Institute) in Singapore and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS). More difficult to specify are the extensive personal debts this project has in curred. I am immensely grateful to the scores of current and former legislators, local councilors, and activists who agreed to interviews or allowed me to shadow them or observe constituency events—this research would simply not have been possible had they been less forthcoming. Moreover, I learnedsomuch from these interviews; these discussions confirmed my respect for the incredible dedication, thoughtfulness, and selfreflection of these extraordinarily hardworking public servants. (A note on how I cite those interviews: at key points—for instance, in describing the extent or character of constituencyoutreach—I cite in blocs. Those who requested anonymity are identified only by party. My objective has been to balance research transparency with respect for my sources.) I cannot list all inter viewees here, but especial thanks to those who seemed always ready to meet, chat, and share contacts and insights unreservedly—who were more sounding boards than mere respondents. In alphabetical order (and painfully aware that Iwillsurely forget to mention someone), these individuals include Tian Chua, Daniel Goh, Kenneth Jeyaretnam, Liew Chin Tong, Bryan Lim, Ong Kian Ming, Janil Puthu cheary, Saifuddin Abdullah, Sim Tze Tsin, John Tan, and Wan Saiful Wan Jan. Then there are the many others, some of them overlapping the first category, who helped to facilitate those meetings, a significant share of which would not have happened without a personal plug or referral, and/or helped out in other ways—with feedback, ideas, criticism, and more. This list is a very long one; I could

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