Ethnic attitudes, political preferences and the politics of stability

TY - JOUR

T1 - Ethnic attitudes, political preferences and the politics of stability

AU - Mat Jali, Mohd. Fuad

AU - Awang Besar, Junaidi

AU - Buang, Amiah @ Amriah

AU - V. Selvadurai, Sivapalan

AU - Er, Ah Choy

AU - Lyndon, Novel

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - Ethnic cleavages have been recognised as a potent force in political system of many developing and advanced countries. Elections are often fought along ethnic and regional lines. Being a multiracial society, any analysis of voting behaviour in Malaysia is bound to take ethnicity into consideration. This article analyses the ethnic attitudes and political preferences among of the three main ethnic groups in the a Malaysian State Legislative Assembly. A survey using questionnaires was conducted from involving a sample of 500 Malays, Chinese and Indian voters. The result of the study shows that the Malay voters were more interested and cared very much which party won the election than the Indian and Chinese voters. The Malays too very concerned about the ethnicity of candidates and the urban Chinese voters were unlikely to vote for DAP if the candidate was not from the same ethnic group. Generally, most of the Malaysian electorate were willing to vote for BN regardless of candidate ethnicity, but the turnout will be higher when the candidate comes from the same ethnic background as the voters. The main reason Malaysian voted for the BN is to preserve comfort of the familiar in the guise of political stability. In conclusion, this study has an impact on ethnic policy, programmes and compromises over differences. Thus, a study on ethnic needs and accommodation is very important to regulate party loyalty and perceptions. The analysis of the Sabak 2004 electoral results showed that ethnic attitudes and political preferences played into the politics of stability in Malaysia. While there had been a desire for reform as testified by the challenge posed to the BN government in the previous 1999 general election, the collective will to see it through - to embrace potential uncertainties that come with an entirely new government scenario was not strong enough to dislodge Malaysians from their addiction to stability. This was because stability was intertwined with ethnic politics. The politics of ethnicity was about the only way Malaysians knew as to how to co-exist. It would be very interesting indeed for future analyses to look again into the question of ethnic attitudes, political preferences and the politics of stability in Malaysia.

AB - Ethnic cleavages have been recognised as a potent force in political system of many developing and advanced countries. Elections are often fought along ethnic and regional lines. Being a multiracial society, any analysis of voting behaviour in Malaysia is bound to take ethnicity into consideration. This article analyses the ethnic attitudes and political preferences among of the three main ethnic groups in the a Malaysian State Legislative Assembly. A survey using questionnaires was conducted from involving a sample of 500 Malays, Chinese and Indian voters. The result of the study shows that the Malay voters were more interested and cared very much which party won the election than the Indian and Chinese voters. The Malays too very concerned about the ethnicity of candidates and the urban Chinese voters were unlikely to vote for DAP if the candidate was not from the same ethnic group. Generally, most of the Malaysian electorate were willing to vote for BN regardless of candidate ethnicity, but the turnout will be higher when the candidate comes from the same ethnic background as the voters. The main reason Malaysian voted for the BN is to preserve comfort of the familiar in the guise of political stability. In conclusion, this study has an impact on ethnic policy, programmes and compromises over differences. Thus, a study on ethnic needs and accommodation is very important to regulate party loyalty and perceptions. The analysis of the Sabak 2004 electoral results showed that ethnic attitudes and political preferences played into the politics of stability in Malaysia. While there had been a desire for reform as testified by the challenge posed to the BN government in the previous 1999 general election, the collective will to see it through - to embrace potential uncertainties that come with an entirely new government scenario was not strong enough to dislodge Malaysians from their addiction to stability. This was because stability was intertwined with ethnic politics. The politics of ethnicity was about the only way Malaysians knew as to how to co-exist. It would be very interesting indeed for future analyses to look again into the question of ethnic attitudes, political preferences and the politics of stability in Malaysia.

KW - Elections

KW - Ethnic cleavages

KW - National unity

KW - Political parties

KW - Political stability

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M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84863923311

VL - 13

SP - 34

EP - 38

JO - World Applied Sciences Journal

JF - World Applied Sciences Journal

SN - 1818-4952

IS - 13 SPECIAL ISSUE

ER -