Governing the COVID-19 Pandemic in Malaysia: Shifting Capacity under a Fragmented Political Leadership

被引:0
作者
Hong, Por Heong [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Sains Malaysia, Sch Social Sci, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
关键词
state capacity; political legitimacy; state-in; society; democratic backsliding; pandemic governance;
D O I
10.5509/2023963469
中图分类号
K9 [地理];
学科分类号
0705 ;
摘要
Drawing on a variety of material-mass and social media texts, government reports, and everyday observations-this article examines two interrelated dynamics in Malaysia in 2020-2021: the COVID-19 pandemic's unfolding local trajectory and the short-lived Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition's governance capacity. Despite political instability resulting from this government's rise to power following internal political manouevrings, it managed to effectively control a major wave of cases with the help of a centralized healthcare system manned by permanent professional staff and the imposition of coercive measures. Thus, Malaysia's success in "governing" the early phase of the pandemic is arguably attributable to its strong state infrastructure, notwithstanding the untimely unfolding of this political coup. However, an ideal type approach-that is, concern with state capacity-is inadequate in making sense of subsequent failures to control the pandemic after a state election took place several months later. Using Migdal's "state-in-society" approach, this article focuses on the political process of pandemic governance to shed light on Malaysia's shifting state capabilities. Arguably, the resulting shifting responses were mainly shaped by: (1) continuous partisanship; (2) PN's internal fragmentation; (3) PN's complacency in initially "flattening the curve"; and (4) poor governance during the state election.
引用
收藏
页码:469 / 491
页数:23
相关论文
共 50 条
[41]   Contingency plan for the intensive care services for the COVID-19 pandemic [J].
Rascado Sedes, P. ;
Ballesteros Sanz, M. A. ;
Bodi Saera, M. A. ;
Carrasco Rodriguez-Rey, L. F. ;
Castellanos Ortega, A. ;
Catalan Gonzalez, M. ;
de Haro Lopez, C. ;
Diaz Santos, E. ;
Escriba Barcena, A. ;
Frade Mera, M. J. ;
Igeno Cano, J. C. ;
Martin Delgado, M. C. ;
Martinez Estalella, G. ;
Raimondi, N. ;
Roca i Gas, O. ;
Rodriguez Oviedo, A. ;
Romero San Pio, E. ;
Trenado Alvarez, J. .
MEDICINA INTENSIVA, 2020, 44 (06) :363-370
[42]   Survey on anesthesiology in vascular surgery and COVID-19 pandemic impact [J].
Gallego-Ligorit, Lucia ;
Gimenez-Mila, Marc ;
Vicente Guillen, Rosario ;
Matute Jimenez, Purificacion .
ANGIOLOGIA, 2021, 73 (06) :275-287
[43]   Coproduction and the crafting of cognitive institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic [J].
Rayamajhee, Veeshan ;
Paniagua, Pablo .
JOURNAL OF INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS, 2022, 18 (06) :961-967
[44]   The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Model of Governance and Democracy in Poland [J].
Szymanski, Adam ;
Zamecki, Lukasz .
SIYASAL-JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCES, 2022, 31 (01) :69-84
[45]   SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN RUSSIA: RESULTS OF A STUDY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE "WORLD INTERNET PROJECT - 2021" [J].
Batanina, E. A. ;
Brodovskaya, E., V ;
Dombrovskaya, A. Y. ;
Parma, R., V .
PROCEEDINGS OF THE TULA STATES UNIVERSITY-SCIENCES OF EARTH, 2021, 4 :3-13
[46]   Disease and democracy: Political regimes and countries responsiveness to COVID-19* [J].
Chen, Chinchih ;
Frey, Carl Benedikt ;
Presidente, Giorgio .
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR & ORGANIZATION, 2023, 212 :290-299
[47]   State Capacity and the Triple COVID-19 Crises: An International Comparison [J].
de la Cruz, Fernando ;
Tezanos, Sergio ;
Madrueno, Rogelio .
FORUM FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES, 2022, 49 (02) :129-154
[48]   State Capacity and COVID-19 Responses: Comparing the US States [J].
Auerbach, Kiran ;
Lerner, Joshua Y. ;
Ridge, Hannah M. .
STATE POLITICS & POLICY QUARTERLY, 2024, 24 (04) :349-369
[49]   State Capacity in Response to COVID-19: A Case Study of China [J].
Wu, Shaolong ;
Wang, Chunxiao ;
Zhang, Luwen .
CHINESE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, 2021, 12 (02) :152-159
[50]   Emergency neurological procedures during COVID-19 pandemic: Practical issues [J].
Singh, Gyaninder Pal ;
Hrishi, Ajay Prasad ;
Rath, Girija Prasad .
JOURNAL OF ANAESTHESIOLOGY CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, 2020, 36 :S104-+