Has Patronage Lost Its Punch in Malaysia?

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.