Abstract
The notion of political legitimacy is imprecise, subjective, and often tautological. Even so, in applying it to Malaysia, we discover some unique utility. Among the countries considered in this volume, Malaysia is the only nation starkly divided along ethnic lines, scored nearly in half between the Malays and non-Malays, the latter a residual, negatively designated category that mainly includes local Chinese, Indians, and social minorities in Sabah and Sarawak. And though this dyad has been muddied somewhat by evolving intraethnic identities, societal perceptions of the government’s legitimacy—or lack of it—have historically possessed clear focus.
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© 2011 John Kane, Hui-Chieh Loy, and Haig Patapan
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Case, W. (2011). Legitimacy in Malaysia: Dilemmas and Deficits. In: Kane, J., Loy, HC., Patapan, H. (eds) Political Legitimacy in Asia. Palgrave Series on Asian Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137001474_6
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