Money politics in Malaysia

This article discusses the issue of money politics in Malaysia over the past two decades. Firstly, it looks at the concept of money politics in Malaysia and how it is being perpetuated. Secondly, it discusses the relevant laws in Malaysia that could contain money politics. Lastly, the article concludes that Malaysia has the relevant laws to control money politics, but they have not been enforced properly. Therefore, money politics has been allowed to persist rampantly in Malaysia.     

State,bureaucracy and polity in modern Thai politics

We test the comparative foreign labor policies of Korea and Japan within a vein of international relations literature addressing the effects of international norms on changes in state policies. Building on the efforts to emphasize a state's domestic structure as a source of variations in the impact of international norms, this study enriches this debate further by demonstrating the role of the Korean state in developing international human rights norms domestically. In contrast to the previous studies that tend to dichotomize between states and human rights activists, which result in focusing their empirical studies on the question of whether states are constrained in developing immigration policies under the influence of international human rights norms, we demonstrate that state actors in coalition with human rights activists were actively involved in the process of enacting the Employment of Foreign Workers Act (EFWA) in Korea. More precisely, by offering a detailed account of how Korea finally suc ceeded in adopting the EFWA in 2003 after two failed attempts in 1997 and 2000, we attribute the success to the more extensive, organized pro-foreign workers coalition of state actors and human rights activists over the course of actions. When this observation is applied to Japan, the absence of an active role of the state accounts for Japan's relative silence on the EFWA.     

Double-layered ethnic politics in Malaysia: national integration,ethnic unity and social stability

Each ethnic community has an ethnic-based political party both within the government coalition (Barisan Nasional: BN) and within the opposition coalition (Pakatan Rakyat and Pakatan Harapan). Therefore, Malaysia’s political structure can be described as double-layered ethnic politics. In this political structure, the BN government has been forced to adopt a fluctuating policy framework for nation building. As a result, double-layered ethnic politics impedes the development of national integration. Paradoxically, this phenomenon contributes to the maintenance of social stability as this political structure effectively prevents the establishment of a robust ethnic unity that may lead to ethnic conflicts.     

The 1988 Nanjing incident: Notes on race and politics in contemporary China

Abstract

On the evening of 24 December 1988 Chinese and African students scuffled at the gates of a Nanjing university. The next night thousands of angry Chinese university students poured down Nanjing's main street toward the heart of the city. Although they would later chant slogans demanding democracy and calling for human rights, on this night they shouted only dadao heigui (down with niggers) and heigui gunhuiqu (niggers get the hell out) as well as other epithets. This “extraordinary combination” of democratic and racist slogans in late 1988 puzzled outside observers of China. This article argues that neither the existence of racism among educated Chinese nor the struggle for democracy alone are enough to explain the intensity of the original clash and its aftermath. Arguments that the incident simply signified an ugly outburst of racism or that students merely used the initial incident as a pretext for pushing for democracy lack sufficient explanatory power. In fact, it is precisely this “extraordinary” pairing of slogans that may reveal something about society, politics, and the educated elite in contemporary China.     

Class,nation and religion: changing nature of Akali Dal politics in Punjab,India

The Akali Dal is the best organised political party in Punjab and has ruled over Punjab for a longer period than any other political party since the creation of the Punjabi-speaking state in 1966. It articulates aspirations of Punjabi regional nationalism along with trying to protect the interests of the Sikhs as a religious minority in India and abroad. As a part of shaping Punjab's economic future, it deals with the pressures of Indian and global capitalism. This paper is an attempt to track the multi-faceted pressures of class, religion and nationalism in the way Akali Dal negotiates its politics in Indian federalism.     

Religion,demography, and politics in Lebanon

A devastating earthquake hit Istanbul and its environs shortly after noon on 10 July 1894. Although seismic disturbances were quite frequent in the long history of the Ottoman capital, the imperial city had not witnessed such violent tremors in more than a century. Hundreds of people died and thousands more were injured as a result of the complete or partial collapse of private dwellings, mosques, churches, synagogues and other public buildings. The earthquake of July 1894 hit the seat of the Ottoman government during a period of rapid socio-cultural change and shortly before the empire faced one of its worst crises in the late nineteenth century. As may be expected, many people in the Ottoman lands sought an explanation to the calamity that befell the inhabitants of the capital and neighbouring regions. Some could draw on long-standing interpretive traditions that were primarily either theological in nature or based on classical naturalist theories. However, the Ottoman intelligentsia rejected such explanations out of hand. The Ottoman response to the earthquake mirrored the similar embrace of science's authority and adoption of scientific methods and tools in many other contemporary societies. The process of the expansion and globalization of scientific knowledge expanded beyond the boundaries of Europe and its colonies. Science and technology were widely perceived to be the measure of civilization and modernity. The Ottoman intelligentsia and political elite were therefore invested in helping the Ottoman Empire meet standards that were set in Europe and North America but also achieved quite successfully in Japan. They seized upon the earthquake of 1894 to disseminate knowledge of modern earth sciences and implement new methods of scientific study of seismic events in the Ottoman lands.     

Crime, conflict and politics in transition-era South Africa

Despite the potentially catastrophic repercussions of SouthAfrica’s violent crime epidemic, little progress has beenmade in understanding why violence has persisted and even escalatedsince the end of apartheid in 1994. Adopting an historical approachthat highlights the persistence of urban violence throughoutthe twentieth century, this article focuses on the criminaldimensions of the ‘political’ conflicts of the 1980sand 1990s. The advent of democracy was not in itself sufficientto erase a deeply entrenched culture of violence produced bydecades of repressive racial policing, violent crime and socialconflict. Moreover, politicized hostilities and the continuingdeterioration of law and order structures in the final yearsof apartheid gave birth to various groups that engaged in criminalviolence and provided favourable conditions for well establishedcriminal networks. Such elements were unlikely to put down theirguns and relinquish power simply because politicians declaredthe fighting to be over. Situating transition-era violence withinits historic context and broadening the narrow conception of‘political’ conflict enable us to better understandboth this fractious period and the violence that continues toafflict South Africa.     

Patronage politics, donor reforms, and regime consolidation in Uganda

Using the state and its resources has constituted a vital formof consolidating power for Africa’s rulers. However, donor-sponsoredreforms have threatened to curtail the opportunities of Africanleaders to maintain their regimes in power. Donor reforms introducedunder structural adjustment programmes have sought to reducethe size and scope of government as well as to cut state spendingand thereby curb the possibilities of state patronage. Reformshave also attempted to contain corruption and improve stategovernance. In Uganda, however, the relationship between donorsand the government has reproduced patronage government. Thedonors have hailed Uganda as a major case of economic successin Africa. They have provided it with large amounts of financialassistance to support the implementation of reforms. High levelsof foreign aid have provided the government with public resourcesto sustain the patronage basis of the regime. Moreover, in acontext where wide discretionary authority was conferred ongoverning elites in the implementation of reforms, public resourcescould be used in unaccountable and non-transparent ways to helpthe government maintain its political dominance. The donorshave begun to realize belatedly that they have been proppingup a corrupt government in Uganda.     

利益集团、制度僵化与马来西亚中等收入陷阱

本文以马来西亚为例,以奥尔森的国家兴亡理论为分析工具,认为导致马来西亚中等收入陷阱的深层次原因在于制度因素。在马来西亚,由于特殊利益集团的存在,导致制度僵化,致使投资和创新动力不足,技术能力难以提升,产业结构无法升级,经济增长阶段也就不能从既往的要素驱动、投资驱动进化到创新驱动、财富驱动阶段,从而摆脱不了中等收入陷阱。     

Globalization,education, and the politics of identity in the Asia-Pacific

Abstract

This essay examines a resurgent interest in “regionness” as a response to globalization, and it looks at how governments and citizens have participated in the discourse on forging a new Asia-Pacific community that has developed over the past fifteen years. Part one distinguishes between “regionalization” and “regionalism” as competing visions for the construction of a future Asia-Pacific community. Regionalization, the dominant paradigm during the postcolonial period, centers on interstate forums dominated by officially recognized political and economic elites who seek interstate cooperation in order to protect state interests, state power, and national identity from foreign as well as domestic challenges. Regionalism, as an alternative paradigm, envisions the creation of transnational networks inclusive of nonofficial actors, whose identification with a particular state and set of national interests does not preclude the creation of a regional identity (or identities) and support for regional interests. Part two considers the challenges that regionalism poses for the nation-state and its leadership. It does so by highlighting the pressure for reform that globalization has brought to bear upon one particular institution that theorists of nationalism have long identified as central to the perpetuation of national identity, national unity, and state authority: schooling. Part three assesses the current prospects for such reforms by briefly examining recent educational developments in Japan, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore.