Can youth save Malaysia's democracy?

In 2019, Malaysia passed a bipartisan constitutional amendment that lowered the country’s voting age from 21 to 18, setting in train a dramatic expansion of the electorate and downward tilt in the median voter age. Malaysian youth are, on average, both fairly well informed and politically aware, and...

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Main Author: Weiss, Meredith L.
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Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165604
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1656042023-04-09T15:42:21Z Can youth save Malaysia's democracy? Weiss, Meredith L. - S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies - Social sciences::Political science In 2019, Malaysia passed a bipartisan constitutional amendment that lowered the country’s voting age from 21 to 18, setting in train a dramatic expansion of the electorate and downward tilt in the median voter age. Malaysian youth are, on average, both fairly well informed and politically aware, and concerned about their country’s direction and their own prospects. Yet we should not expect that a sudden flood of young voters will upend Malaysia’s next elections. Like their elders, not all youth share the same priorities or are committed to a similar democratic vision. Especially key are differing perspectives on the role of race and religion in government, and on the ethno-nationalist coalition that came to power in early 2020, supplanting the reformist coalition elected in 2018. Nevertheless, elections are not the only way youth can make their mark on Malaysian democracy. Today’s youth came of age in an era of expanded avenues for awareness-raising and mobilisation. Regardless of personal ideological or policy preferences, Malaysian youth are thus more likely acculturated to new ways of approaching and engaging in politics, positioning them to develop and model new habits of participation and enforcing accountability — habits conducive to more robust, if incremental, liberalisation. 2023-04-03T08:09:06Z 2023-04-03T08:09:06Z 2022 Working Paper Weiss, M. L. (2022). Can youth save Malaysia's democracy?. RSIS Working Papers, 337/22, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165604 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165604 en RSIS Working Papers, 337/22 Nanyang Technological University application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Social sciences::Political science
spellingShingle Social sciences::Political science
Weiss, Meredith L.
Can youth save Malaysia's democracy?
description In 2019, Malaysia passed a bipartisan constitutional amendment that lowered the country’s voting age from 21 to 18, setting in train a dramatic expansion of the electorate and downward tilt in the median voter age. Malaysian youth are, on average, both fairly well informed and politically aware, and concerned about their country’s direction and their own prospects. Yet we should not expect that a sudden flood of young voters will upend Malaysia’s next elections. Like their elders, not all youth share the same priorities or are committed to a similar democratic vision. Especially key are differing perspectives on the role of race and religion in government, and on the ethno-nationalist coalition that came to power in early 2020, supplanting the reformist coalition elected in 2018. Nevertheless, elections are not the only way youth can make their mark on Malaysian democracy. Today’s youth came of age in an era of expanded avenues for awareness-raising and mobilisation. Regardless of personal ideological or policy preferences, Malaysian youth are thus more likely acculturated to new ways of approaching and engaging in politics, positioning them to develop and model new habits of participation and enforcing accountability — habits conducive to more robust, if incremental, liberalisation.
author2 -
author_facet -
Weiss, Meredith L.
format Working Paper
author Weiss, Meredith L.
author_sort Weiss, Meredith L.
title Can youth save Malaysia's democracy?
title_short Can youth save Malaysia's democracy?
title_full Can youth save Malaysia's democracy?
title_fullStr Can youth save Malaysia's democracy?
title_full_unstemmed Can youth save Malaysia's democracy?
title_sort can youth save malaysia's democracy?
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2023
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165604
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