Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
11-2018
Abstract
The personalistic linkages that generally define Malaysian politics come into sharp relief when candidates confront the imperative of winning office. Malaysia’s 14th general election (GE14), as other previous iterations, saw politicians emphasize their ‘personal touch’ and offer a barrage of targeted promises. Yet these relationships are not confined to elections and reflect deep connections between voters and politicians – not only for politicians in the long-dominant Barisan Nasional coalition, but also for the newly victorious Pakatan Harapan parties. The authors of this article draw on original survey data to show the embeddedness of these relationships beyond elections. In GE14, the Pakatan coalition could bank on their experience in power, as well as present a broad, economics-oriented campaign that was able to reassure voters that they would not lose out on the personal attention and material benefits they had come to expect from their politicians. As such, personalistic politics will, in the view of the authors, probably survive the transition in government.
Keywords
Malaysia’s GE14, party–voter linkages, clientelism, patronage, elections, electoral transitions
Discipline
Asian Studies | Political Science
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Round Table
Volume
107
Issue
6
First Page
739
Last Page
754
ISSN
0035-8533
Identifier
10.1080/00358533.2018.1545936
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge): SSH Titles
Citation
DETTMAN, Sebastian Carl, & WEISS, Meredith L..(2018). Has patronage lost its punch in Malaysia?. Round Table, 107(6), 739-754.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3123
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2018.1545936