How to Win a Lost Election: Malapportionment and Malaysia’s 2013 General Election

Abstract

Allegations of electoral irregularities loomed large prior to and following Malaysia’s 13th general election in May 2013. Yet while these irregularities elicited strong reactions domestically and internationally, they are unlikely to have played a significant role in shaping the election’s outcome. Rather than how the game was played, it was the very rules of the game itself that were responsible for returning the United Malays National Organization and its Barisan Nasional coalition to power for the 13th consecutive time, as Malaysia’s electoral institutions quietly transformed the incumbent coalition’s 4% deficit in the popular vote into a 20% winning margin of parliamentary seats. This is largely the result of substantial variation in the size of electoral districts, which had the effect of delivering parliamentary seats to Barisan Nasional with significantly fewer votes than were required by the opposition to secure its seats. This article has two primary aims. First, it seeks to understand better malapportionment in Malaysia by examining the degree of distortions at multiple institutional levels. It demonstrates these distortions to be exceptionally high from a comparative perspective. Second, it seeks to understand better the factors responsible for the size variation of electoral districts, specifically the extent to which the non-partisan factors stipulated in the constitution can explain the variation. Several tests are conducted using new data on the density of voters in electoral districts. The results strongly indicate a partisan element to malapportionment. This creates an institutionalized bias against the opposition and risks increasing polarization in the Malaysian polity.     

网络热词—民意之窗

网络热词本身蕴含着丰富的社会文化心理因素,它的流行不仅仅是一种语言现象,其背后往往是一个新闻事件或一类社会现象,带有社会发展进程中深深的烙印。每一个网络热词的诞生和迅速流传,反映的都是社会生活和民意民情。分析网络热词反映民意的表现、流行特点及流行原因,可以客观揭示网络热词与公众情绪间的关系。     

重新反思作为“范式”的教科书哲学——基于学术形态、政治形态、大众形态相统一的视角

马克思主义教科书哲学的发展和创新是马克思主义中国化、时代化、大众化的重要载体,也是马克思主义发展和创新的重要突破口。从学术形态、政治形态、大众形态相统一的视角看,作为\"范式\"的马克思主义哲学教科书在马克思主义中国化、时代化、大众化方面功不可没,但无疑也需要重新反思其利弊得失,从而沿着马克思开辟的哲学道路不断发展。深入研究作为\"范式\"的马克思主义教科书哲学,揭示其深层理论困难,具有现实意义。     

对成人高等教育质量的再认识

我国成人高等教育发展存在着明显的二重性和教育现实目的要求与传统质量评价标准之间种种强烈冲突。人们对成人高等教育质量的非难既有合理的一面,也有因套用传统标准,形成无端怀疑,得出错误结论的不合理的一面。因此,必须重塑成人高等教育质量观,突出成人教育特色,坚持教育改革,有效提高成人高等教育质量。     

谈公安民警的言语行为规范

公安民警良好的言语行为是做好公安工作的一个重要因素,当前公安民警的言语行为存在一些不规范之处,这直接影响着公安队伍的形象。公安民警良好的言语行为规范,既是警务工作的重要工具,也是公安工作中的艺术,更是沟通警民关系的桥梁和拉动警民关系顺利发展的纽带。文章论述了公安民警应当遵守的言语行为规范:礼貌文明,满腔热情;掌握策略,谦让克己;遵纪守法,尊重人格。     

对毛泽东探索社会主义文化的梳理与分析

从20世纪50年代中期到60年代中期，毛泽东对社会主义化建设的探索，主要集中在三个问题上：怎样看待已有的化资源：是否认可化形态的多样性和多层次性；化建设的方向与现代化的关系。他提出过很好的思路。但认识和实践的脱节也非常明显，其成败得失对于我们今天建设社会主义先进化有许多值得借鉴的地方。     

‘A Nation Reborn’: Right to Law and Right to Life in The Purge Franchise

ABSTRACT

Popular culture matters for helping make sense of our political lives. This article addresses the value of dystopian horror films in challenging narratives about the state. It is situated within broader understandings of popular culture and politics, and specifically within narrative understandings of the state as a performative body. It presents The Purge film franchise as an example of such a challenge to state narratives, and argues that through its distortion of dominant state narratives, the franchise reveals and challenges the intersections of economic and racial inequality in the neoliberal United States. It examines in particular the emergency broadcast featured in all four films, which positions citizens in a relationship with law and life where the right to law conflates the right to life, and argues that the films present an understanding of vulnerability and abandonment that are in some ways already present in the state. It concludes by questioning what, if any, the capacities are for resistance.