The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia

Introduction The demographic of most Asian countries is made up of multiple ethnicities or religious groups, a fact that is not lost on those who believe that homogeneity is an important precondition for democracy. Asia is unique because of its vast territory and the peoples inhabiting it, making...

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Main Author:	Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad
Format:	Conference or Workshop Item
Language:	English English
Published:	2015
Subjects:	JA Political science (General)
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/1/63689_The%20Role%20of%20Ethnic%20Politics.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/2/63689_The%20Role%20of%20Ethnic%20Politics_paper.pdf

id	iium-63689
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-636892018-05-21T03:36:19Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/ The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad JA Political science (General) Introduction The demographic of most Asian countries is made up of multiple ethnicities or religious groups, a fact that is not lost on those who believe that homogeneity is an important precondition for democracy. Asia is unique because of its vast territory and the peoples inhabiting it, making the project of nation building challenging. The national boundaries that were demarcated by exiting colonial masters, unfortunately, did not take into account the ethnic, religious, or even linguistic makeup of countries. As a result, the democratic prospects of these heterogeneous countries were believed to be doomed from the outset. However, as this paper will argue by using Malaysia as a case study, politics based on social diversity do not necessarily inhibit the development of democracy with the right leadership and institutions in place. Compared to other multi-ethnic societies such as Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland, Malaysia has been more successful at maintaining democratic governance. Although diversity does not guarantee stability or peace in a democratic nation, it is not impossible for it to help consolidate a democracy where there already is one. This paper applies qualitative methodology in developing the arguments, mainly using process tracing and counterfactual methodologies to discover the intervening variables responsible for the maintenance of democratic governance in Malaysia. Evidence such as power sharing, strong leadership, and institutional moderation confirm the validity of the two methods applied. 2015 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/1/63689_The%20Role%20of%20Ethnic%20Politics.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/2/63689_The%20Role%20of%20Ethnic%20Politics_paper.pdf Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad (2015) The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia. In: 9th Asian Political and International Studies Association Conference (APISA 9), 11th-12th September 2015, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Unpublished) http://www.apisa.org/APISA9/APISA9%20Abstract%20Book.pdf
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English
topic	JA Political science (General)
spellingShingle	JA Political science (General) Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia
description	Introduction The demographic of most Asian countries is made up of multiple ethnicities or religious groups, a fact that is not lost on those who believe that homogeneity is an important precondition for democracy. Asia is unique because of its vast territory and the peoples inhabiting it, making the project of nation building challenging. The national boundaries that were demarcated by exiting colonial masters, unfortunately, did not take into account the ethnic, religious, or even linguistic makeup of countries. As a result, the democratic prospects of these heterogeneous countries were believed to be doomed from the outset. However, as this paper will argue by using Malaysia as a case study, politics based on social diversity do not necessarily inhibit the development of democracy with the right leadership and institutions in place. Compared to other multi-ethnic societies such as Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland, Malaysia has been more successful at maintaining democratic governance. Although diversity does not guarantee stability or peace in a democratic nation, it is not impossible for it to help consolidate a democracy where there already is one. This paper applies qualitative methodology in developing the arguments, mainly using process tracing and counterfactual methodologies to discover the intervening variables responsible for the maintenance of democratic governance in Malaysia. Evidence such as power sharing, strong leadership, and institutional moderation confirm the validity of the two methods applied.
format	Conference or Workshop Item
author	Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad
author_facet	Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad
author_sort	Shukri, Syaza Farhana Mohamad
title	The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia
title_short	The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia
title_full	The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia
title_fullStr	The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia
title_sort	role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of malaysia
publishDate	2015
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/1/63689_The%20Role%20of%20Ethnic%20Politics.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/63689/2/63689_The%20Role%20of%20Ethnic%20Politics_paper.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:30:19Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:30:19Z
_version_	1777412466716704768

The role of ethnic politics in promoting democratic governance: a case study of Malaysia

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