scholarly journals Malaysian Electoral System Reform and the Challenges of its Implementation After the 14th General Election

2022 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 299-312
Author(s):  
Mohamad Fairuz Mat Ali ◽  
Mohammad Agus Yusoff
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
General Election ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Simple Majority ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Federal Constitution ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
Electoral Reforms

Prior to the 14th general election (GE-14), electoral practices in Malaysia have been often criticised as being obscure and biased since it was plagued with issues such as dubious voter registers and ballot paper fraud. Therefore, in its manifesto during GE-14, Pakatan Harapan (PH) promised to reform this electoral practice to make it more independent, transparent, and fair. PH then won the GE-14 on the strength of this vow, forcing it to keep its manifesto pledge. However, implementing the said promise is not easy as most of the proposals involve amendments to the Federal Constitution that require the support of at least a two-thirds majority. The fact that PH lacks such a majority has raised the issue of whether or not the objective to reform the electoral system can be materialised. Thus, this article examines the aspects of electoral reform implemented by PH during its 22 months in power and assesses the challenges faced in implementing such electoral system reform. The concept of electoral reform was used as an analytical tool in this article. This article mainly obtained its data from secondary sources including books, journals, theses, official government documents and websites, while primary data were collected from unstructured interviews with authoritative informants. Findings revealed that among the important reforms of the country's electoral system that have been accomplished by PH are improving the standard operating procedures of elections, enhancing election rules that do not require amendments, amending laws that require simple majority support in the parliament, and implementing ‘high-impact’ electoral reforms that require amendments to the Federal Constitution. Moreover, it was also discovered that the main challenge to reforming the electoral system was the constraint of electoral rule amendments that require the approval of a two-thirds majority of parliamentarians. Other obstacles included politicians' unwillingness to accept a new electoral system culture, barriers to accessing data and information owned by other agencies, discrepancies between federal and state legislation, and financial constraints on improving existing hardware and systems necessary for electoral reform success.

scholarly journals VOTING TRENDS IN THE 1986-2018 GENERAL ELECTION IN MALAYSIA BASED ON GEOGRAPHICAL MAPPING

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (25) ◽  
pp. 40-63
Author(s):  
Junaidi Awang Besar ◽  
Ahmad Rizal Mohd Yusof ◽  
Nasir Nayan ◽  
Siti Noranizahhafizah Boyman ◽  
Mazlan Ali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
General Election ◽  
Simple Majority ◽  
Research Information ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Sociological Factors ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Geographical Elements ◽  
The Impact

Malaysia adopts a system of parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy which has a first past the post electoral system which is the determination of victory in elections based on a simple majority. Election results are caused by certain factors and will shape certain voting patterns. Therefore, it is the purpose of writing this article to analyze the voting trends in the General Election (GE) 1986-2018 in Malaysia based on the geographical mapping. The writing of this article is based on the 1986-2018 GE results data, field observations during elections, and the production of a geographical distribution map of GE results for Parliament and DUN by using ArcGIS software and analyzed based on authoritative secondary sources. The results show that there are several geographical elements that can be associated with the results and patterns of voting in terms of location and region. The voting pattern between the eight GEs shows a fluctuation or pendulum based on the achievement of the number of seats in both Parliament and DUN between the ruling party which for a long time (1955-2013) namely Perikatan/Barisan Nasional (BN) with opposition parties such as DAP, PAS, PKR, and others. The dynamics of this support are due to, among others, geographical factors and other factors such as issues, leadership, ethnicity, governing experience, media, party ideology, sociological factors, and rational choice. Therefore, it is hoped that the impact of writing this article can provide a new dimension of dynamic electoral political thinking as well as strategic and artistic for the sake of power and can add more data and research information related to electoral politics and electoral geography.

scholarly journals Coordinating nominations: how to deal with an incumbent surplus after electoral reform

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jochen Rehmert
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Liberal Democratic Party ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Electoral Reforms ◽  
Micro Level

Abstract How do parties and candidates react to electoral system reform? While the literature on causes and consequences of electoral reforms is receiving increasing attention, we lack a systematic micro-level account on how parties and candidates adopt to changes in electoral rules and district boundaries. This paper examines the case of the Japanese Liberal Democrats to explore how the party has managed to accommodate a surplus of incumbents to a reduced number of nominal tier seats following the 1994 electoral reform. By using micro-level data, I examine how the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has matched candidates based on their expected electoral strength and ideological positioning to new districts. Moreover, I investigate how the newly instituted party-list allowed the LDP to avoid its disintegration at the local level by systematically defusing local stand-offs through the handing out of promising list positions. My findings help to understand how the LDP could avoid its disintegration and could continue to dominate Japanese politics until today.

Explaining the unexpected: electoral reform and democratic governance in Burkina Faso

2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Santiso ◽  
Augustin Loada
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Electoral Reforms ◽  
Modes Of Governance ◽  
First Time ◽  
Ruling Party

The parliamentary elections of May 2002 in Burkina Faso saw the ruling party loose its exclusionary grip on power. For the first time since the restoration of democracy in 1991, the parliamentary opposition now represents a sizeable group. While it retains the majority, the ruling party has to share legislative power with the opposition. These elections marginally alter the structure of power in a deeply presidential system of government. Several institutional and electoral reforms have played a critical role in strengthening the mechanisms of ‘vertical accountability’ and representative democracy. By assessing recent electoral reforms in Burkina Faso, the article underlines the importance of the electoral system in multiparty elections and thus contributes to our understanding of the effects of changes in electoral rules on the distribution of political outcomes. In particular, it underscores the contribution that institutional engineering and electoral reform can make to further democratisation in a semi-authoritarian context. While many challenges to democratic governance and the rule of law remain, the new political landscape holds the promise of changes in the style of government and the emergence of more consensual modes of governance.

scholarly journals Electoral Violence and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria: Issues and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 140-156
Author(s):  
Deinibiteim M. Harry ◽  
Samuel B. Kalagbor
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Data ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Democratic Consolidation ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Electoral Violence ◽  
State Fragility ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Electoral Reforms

The study examined the effects of electoral violence on the democratization efforts and democratic consolidation in Nigeria since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The nation’s elections, at all levels of governance, are characterized by violence. Violence mar as high as 70 percent of Nigerian elections resulting in deaths, destruction of properties, maiming, etc. Successive governments have made frantic efforts to institutionalize and consolidate democracy in the country, embarking on various electoral reforms with little or no result with respect to curbing electoral violence. Thus, the main objective of this study is to show that the high rate of electoral violence witnessed over the years has weakened and discredited the democratic consolidation drive of the Nigerian state. The theoretical framework adopted in this study is the “State Fragility Theory”. However, the author’s modified version of “State Compromise Theory” was used to analyze the nature, character and reasons for electoral violence in Nigeria and its effects on the institutionalization of democracy in the country. The study used both primary and secondary data. The primary data were mainly drawn from mainly the authors’ observations during elections, over the years, while secondary data were drawn from existing literature on the subject matter. The study revealed that the pervasive violence at different elections has greatly discredited and emasculated democratic governance in the country. Violence has become both physical and cathartic. It manifests in form of wanton shooting by political thugs to intimidate voters and electoral officials, so as to snatch election materials, disruption of voting, vote suppression, cancellation and annulment of elections in opposition strongholds, etc.  The paper concluded that, to ensure the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria, election management bodies must adopt an electoral system that drastically reduces congregation of people at a voting point(s) so as to reduce violence. Some of the recommendations are that election management bodies should deploy appropriate technology to reduce congregation of people at a voting point, transmission of results should be done electronically to minimize human involvement, contacts error and manipulations.

scholarly journals The Impact of Electoral System Reform on Taiwan's Local Factions

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Göbel
Keyword(s):  
Organized Crime ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Vote Buying ◽  
Initial Test ◽  
Rural County ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Electoral Mobilization ◽  
The Impact

In 2004, the single non-transferable vote (SNTV) was abolished in Taiwan. The SNTV had long been seen as a major factor in the sustenance of county- and township-level clientelist networks (“local factions”). It was also associated with phenomena such as extremism, candidate-centred politics, vote-buying, clientelism and organized crime involvement in politics. More recent scholarship, however, has led to doubts that a single formal institution like an electoral system could have such a powerful influence on electoral mobilization. This article puts these positions to an initial test. It examines the impact of the electoral reform on the mobilization capacity of a local faction in a rural county notorious for its factionalism. By illuminating its intricate mobilization structures, it provides support for the second position: These structures are too resilient to be affected by even a radical electoral reform.

scholarly journals Electoral Reform, Regional Cleavages, and Party System Stability in Bolivia

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Centellas
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
District Level ◽  
Research Note ◽  
System Stability ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Research Findings

This research note considers the effects of electoral system reform in Bolivia. In 1995, Bolivia moved from a list-proportional to a mixed-member proportional electoral system. The intervening years saw growing regional polarization of politics and a collapse of the existing party system. Using statistical analysis of disaggregated electoral data (at department, municipality, and district level), this paper tests whether electoral system reforms may have contributed to the current political crisis. Research findings show that regional cleavages existed prior to electoral system reform, but suggest that reforms aggravated their effects. Such evidence gives reason to question the recent popularity of mixed-member proportionality.

An intra-party account of electoral system choice

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentin Schröder ◽  
Philip Manow
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
District Level ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Electoral Reforms

AbstractWe present an intra-party account of electoral reform, contrasting the incentives of legislators (MPs) with those of party leaders. We develop our argument along the switch to proportional representation (PR) in early 20th century Europe. District-level electoral alliances allowed bourgeois MPs to counter the “socialist threat” under the electoral systems in place. PR was thus unnecessary from the seat-maximizing perspective that dominates previous accounts—intra-party considerations were crucial: candidate nomination and legislative cohesion. We show our argument to hold empirically both for the prototypical case of Germany, 1890–1920, using encompassing district-level data on candidatures, elections, electoral alliances, roll call votes and a series of simulations on reform effects; and for the implementation of electoral reforms in 29 countries, 1900–31.

Voting after the change: A natural experiment on the effect of electoral reform on party system fragmentation

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-286
Author(s):  
Pedro Riera
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Control Method ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
System Size ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Synthetic Control ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Electoral Reforms ◽  
Number Of Parties

This article analyses the causal effect of the 1993 electoral reform in New Zealand on party system fragmentation using the ‘synthetic’ control method. Previous studies using cross-national evidence suggest that electoral reforms change the number of parties. However, they do not take into account possible endogeneity problems and usually focus on their short-term effects. Since the electoral system in use in this country before the change was first past the post (FPTP), I can create a ‘synthetic’ control democracy that had the same institutional framework but did not modify the rules of the game. The results indicate that the electoral reform produced the expected effects on party system size at the electoral level, but that these effects tended to disappear in the long run. In contrast, electoral system effects at the legislative level were larger and stickier over time.

The 1999 Electoral Reforms in Indonesia: Debate, Design and Implementation

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwight Y. King
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Political Evolution ◽  
Electoral Reforms ◽  
Administration And Supervision ◽  
Sensitive Issues

AbstractThis article describes some of the major ways in which the recent electoral reforms changed the Soeharto-era electoral system. The system of only three political parties adhering to a common philosophy (Pancasila) was replaced by hundreds of parties and considerable ideological diversity. To make elections of legislators more meaningful, responsibility for the administration and supervision of elections was placed with more neutral authorities. The reforms enhanced the representativeness, power and accountability of the legislatures in various ways, including multipartyism, establishment of standing subcommissions, bestowal of subpoena power, and decrease in appointed representatives. Particular attention is given to the debate surrounding the most sensitive issues in electoral reform: appointed military representatives, proportional versus district (plurality) electoral principle, and civil servants' involvement in political parties. Despite numerous flaws both in the design of the reforms and in their implementation, reasons for cautious optimism about Indonesia's political evolution are offered in conclusion.

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