From GE14 to Johor 2022: Rethinking Voting Behaviour in Malaysia

How and why do Malaysians vote as they do? How should we understand Malaysian voting behaviour? What do recent trends in voting behaviour tell us about voting and electoral prospects ahead and  democracy in Malaysia? 

Most analyses of Malaysian politics focus on leaders, political parties and coalitions. This seminar focuses on voters, their political participation and interesting shifts in how they are participating (or not) in recent elections. 

During campaigns, analysis  of voter behaviour is often ad hoc and narrow. The same trends remain in academic work as well. Studies of voting behaviour in Malaysia have predominantly only used two lens to understand voters, ethnicity and geography (rural vs urban). More recent studies have drawn attention to generational differences. Analysis focus on specific elections, and are often ahistorical and not comparative.

Drawing from both qualitative and quantitative work on Malaysian elections, this seminar presents research that uses multiple lens to understand voting, and identifies important changes in how Malaysians are participating in elections since 1999 through 2022. Despite pessimism about political stagnation of reforms and democratic backsliding in national politics, focusing on voters offers more optimism for strengthening democracy in Malaysia.   

Details: 
Date: 12 April 2022, Tuesday
Time: 17:00 to 18:30 (GMT +8) 
Location: Online via Zoom
Meeting ID: 876 6083 2120
Passcode: 329433  

About the speaker: 
Dr Bridget Welsh, Honorary Research Associate, Asia Research Institute, University of Nottingham Malaysia specialises in Southeast Asian politics, with a focus on Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Indonesia. An author and editor of numerous books, reports and articles, her research examines electoral behaviour, democracy and socio-political transformations in the region. Her latest (co-edited) book was Sabah from the Ground: The 2020 Elections and the Politics of Survival (2021).  She is a member of the Asia Barometer Survey, Senior Research Associate of the Hu Feng Center for East Asia Democratic Studies of National Taiwan University and a Senior Associate Fellow of The Habibie Center.