Going to the ground (or AstroTurf): a grassroots view of regime resilience. Issue 2 (23rd February 2017)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Going to the ground (or AstroTurf): a grassroots view of regime resilience. Issue 2 (23rd February 2017)
- Main Title:
- Going to the ground (or AstroTurf): a grassroots view of regime resilience
- Authors:
- Weiss, Meredith L.
- Abstract:
- ABSTRACT: While disproportional resources and curbs on civil and political rights clearly matter to electoral authoritarian persistence, long-term acculturation to political norms and modes of governance on the ground in such regimes – of which Singapore and Malaysia are the most durable examples – complicate transformation. A combination of what amounts to classic machine politics with the structural "assist" of sub-par elections renders electoral authoritarianism extraordinarily increasingly resilient over time, not just because it is hard or unlikely for voters to vote in new leaders, but also because the aspiring or elected opposition may end up reproducing rather than subverting key attributes of that regime. Clientelist political praxis may be highly responsive, offer direct accountability, and align with voters' rational self-interest, at least in the short term. However, its persistence impedes pursuit of new ideological or programmatic objectives, perpetuates piecemeal and inefficient allocation of resources, assumes that most voters should expect little from state policies, and discourages attention to proactive legislation, in favour of a more localized, reactive politics. A machine-oriented political regime, then, is not only exceptionally hard to shake, but suboptimal in the long term.
- Is Part Of:
- Democratization. Volume 24:Issue 2(2017)
- Journal:
- Democratization
- Issue:
- Volume 24:Issue 2(2017)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 24, Issue 2 (2017)
- Year:
- 2017
- Volume:
- 24
- Issue:
- 2
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2017-0024-0002-0000
- Page Start:
- 265
- Page End:
- 282
- Publication Date:
- 2017-02-23
- Subjects:
- Electoral authoritarianism -- Malaysia -- Singapore -- machine politics -- elections -- clientelism -- dominant party
Democracy -- Periodicals
Economic history -- 1990- -- Periodicals
Democratization -- Periodicals
321.8 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fdem20/current ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/13510347.2016.1160059 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1351-0347
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 3550.572500
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 1345.xml