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Domestic politics overview / Meredith L. Weiss -- Elections in Malaysia: voting behavior and electoral integrity / Bridget Welsh -- Malaysian political parties and coalitions / Ong Kian Ming -- Malaysia's unexceptionalism: like elsewhere, elites are fractious / William Case -- Islam, the state and politics in Malaysia / Joseph Chinyong Liow and Afif Pasuni -- Rise of Christian political consciousness and mobilisation / Arnold Puyok -- Centralized federalism in Malaysia: is change in the offing? / Francis Loh Kok Wah -- Exporting the BN/UMNO model: politics in Sabah and Sarawak / James Chin -- Local government in urban Malaysia / Goh Ban Lee -- Public administration in Malaysia: origins, influences and assessment / Norma Mansor and Raja Noriza Ariffin -- Social movements in contemporary Malaysia: the cases of Bersih, hindraf and Perkasa / Anantha Raman Govindasamy -- Economics overview / Meredith L. Weiss -- Malaysia's development strategies: governing distribution-through-growth / Greg Felker -- Fiscal and monetary policy in Malaysia: juggling economic imperatives and political reality / Xiaoye She -- Affirmative action: hefty measures, mixed outcomes, muddled thinking / Hwok-Aun Lee -- The middle class in Malaysia: market expansion, consumption and vulnerabilities / Abdul Rahman Embong -- Natural resource extraction and political dependency: Malaysia as a rentier state / Helena Varkkey -- Rent-seeking and money politics in Malaysia: ethnicity, cronyism and class / Jeff Tan -- Labour in Malaysia: flexibility, policymaking and regulated borders / Amarjit Kaur -- Mainstreaming environment and sustainable development policies / Adnan A. Hezri -- Rural transformations / Eric C. Thompson -- The great transformation: urbanisation and urbanism in Malaysia / Yeoh Seng Guan -- Social policy and social development overview / Meredith L. Weiss -- Ethnicity and identity formation: colonial knowledge, colonial structures, and transition / Shamsul A.B. and Athi S.M. -- Marginalisation of the Orang Asli of peninsular Malaysia / Alberto G. Gomes -- Civil liberties in contemporary Malaysia: progress, retrogression, and the resurgence of Asian values / John Liu -- Educational reforms in Malaysia: towards equity, quality and efficiency / Molly N.N. Lee -- 1 care and the politics of healthcare in Malaysia / Chee Heng Leng and Por Heong Hong -- Interfaith relations in Malaysia: moving beyond Muslims versus others / Carolina López -- Culture and the arts in Malaysia: playing to multiple galleries / Kathy Rowland -- Filling in the gaps: the pursuit of gender equality in Malaysia / Tan Beng Hui and Cecilia Ng -- Sexual citizenship in conflict / Pang Khee Teik -- International relations and security overview / Meredith L. Weiss -- Foreign policy priorities / Karminder Singh Dhillon -- Malaysia's security concerns: a contemporary assessment / Lai Yew Meng -- Malaysia and the United States: a maturing partnership / Heng Peck Koon -- Malaysia-China relations: three enduring themes / Kuik Cheng-Chwee -- Issues and challenges in contemporary Malaysian-European relations / Ruhanas Harun -- Contemporary maritime piracy in Malaysia / Carolin Liss

Predating but intensifying with the public health and economic crises COVID-19 sparked has been a political one, of democratic decline or autocratic consolidation, across much of Southeast Asia. Concerned actors and organisations from civil society have acted as firewalls against democratic decline or autocratisation, even as fellow civil society organisations (CSOs) have exerted countervailing, anti-democratic pressure. Indeed, CSOs may be no more progressive than the state, nor fully autonomous from it, and may be debilitatingly fragmented or polarised. And yet across the region, CSOs still disrupt regimes' would-be panoptic scrutiny and authority, by presenting alternative spaces and premises for mobilisation and voice, through a range of modalities. Regardless of their ideological stance, CSOs' political engagement represents the promise or exercise of diagonal accountability. This check interacts with vertical and horizontal dimensions and retains the potential for meaningful intervention – but need not pull in a liberal direction. (JCSA/GIGA)

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations and Shortened Organizational Names -- 1 INTRODUCTION: THE ROOTS OF REFORM -- 2 Conceptualizing Political Opposition and Reform -- 3 Political Development in the Colonial Era -- 4 Expansion and Maturation of Civil and Political Society, 1957-1997 -- 5 The Reformasi Movement and the 1999 Elections -- 6 The Significance of the Reformasi Movement -- 7 The Other Reformasi: Malaysia and Indonesia Compared -- 8 Conclusion: Insights, Implications, and Extensions -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

"This book examines governance from the ground up in the world's two most enduring electoral authoritarian or 'hybrid' regimes (Singapore and Malaysia)-regimes that blend politically liberal and authoritarian features to evade substantive democracy"--