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8 Meredith L. Weiss and Faisal S. Hazis

politics, but for how we understand the regime type broadly. Will the
Malaysian experience suggest a new model, of alternating-party dominance,
in which either of two well-matched coalitions wins, but holds its advantage
with too much manipulation (of electoral rules, of state resources, or of laws)
to be considered democratic alternation? is outcome might happen even
allowing for some degree of reform under (a less than securely emplaced)
Pakatan. Already it does seem that the array of forces in Malaysia recommends
a correction to the overwhelmingly nationally focused literature on such
regimes: distinct state and regional patterns within Malaysia indicate not just
di erent priorities among voters, but—especially in East Malaysia—arguably
structurally di erent patterns of competition, as politicians and voters navigate
a two-level game between state authority and federal leverage.
ird, and relatedly, the results of this election shift where Malaysia ts in
the wider elections literature, although it is too soon to tell the polity’s long-
term placement. Over time, we will be better able to gauge how much GE14
represents a changed type of election—with voters responding to di erent
cues—versus the same type of election but featuring a uctuation in outcome.
Only by situating this election among past and future instances can we con rm
how we should now brand elections in Malaysia. inking comparatively, too,
we might ask of what phenomenon we see this election as a case. Most critically,
was this an example of democratization-by-election, or a liberalizing electoral
outcome, as per Howard and Roessler (2006)? Malaysia’s GE14 result seems to
strengthen their theory that uniting in coalition and around a common lead
candidate (here, Mahathir) can enable victory, despite constraints. And yet
what brought BN down was not just Mahathir-led Pakatan’s win, but also PAS’s
gains on the peninsula and Warisan’s in Sabah. Nor can we say for sure whether
Mahathir’s leading Pakatan (a pull) was more salient than Najib’s leading BN
(a push). Given the complexity of reading outcomes from elections, do these
results in Malaysia con rm or tweak theories developed from experience
elsewhere? And considering that outcome, including the nature of the parties
involved—their structure, orientation, solidity of bases, and programmatic,
clientelistic, or charismatic linkages with the electorate (Kitschelt 2000)—
what comparative cases are most germane: federal Canada (e.g., Clarke and
Stewart 1987), recurrently Liberal Democratic Party-dominant Japan (e.g.,
Pempel 2010; Scheiner 2006, 2012); previously patronage-driven dominant-
party Mexico (e.g., Greene 2007; Magaloni 2006), democratized but weak-
party-system Indonesia (Hadiz 2003; Davidson 2018; Aspinall 2010), or
somewhere else?

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