Failed Autocratization: Malaysia under Najib Razak (2009–2018)

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s systematic strategy of autocratization backfired. This paper is based on a model of three pillars of authoritarian regimes. It traces the different strategies and measures employed to weaken the opposition and shows that major survival strategies were prone to frequent shifts. At the beginning of his tenure, Najib depicted himself as a reformer, and refined some forms of repression. The regime scrapped central coercive tools such as the Internal Security Act, but later replaced them with kindred, yet ineffective measures. Co-optation was more centralized and “money politics” expanded. The widespread and unprecedented usage of patronage resulted in corruption, which fundamentally destabilized the regime. Legitimation was modified since 2013 to a more Malay-centric and Islamist discourse. Because of this shift, legitimation eroded among ethnic and religious minorities. The prime minister’s legitimacy shrank due to corruption scandals. This paper helps gauge the lacking complementarity of the pillars and the failures of an authoritarian regime in crisis, which is important also with a view to political developments in Malaysia since 2018.

失败的专制化：纳吉布·拉扎克治下的马来西亚（2009-2018）

关键词：选举威权主义, 失败的专制化, 压制, 合法性, 精英吸纳, 马来西亚。

马来西亚总理纳吉布·拉扎克的系统性的专制化战略结果适得其反。本论文以一个三个支柱的威权政体模型为基础。它追踪了用以削弱反对派力量的不同策略和手段，表明主要的求生策略总在频繁变更之中。在上任之初, 纳吉布把自己打扮成一个改革者，对一些压制形式也加以了改进。纳吉布政府废止了诸如《内部安全法案》这样的中央强制性工具，但是后来又用类似然而无效的手段取而代之。精英吸纳变得更为集中化，“金钱政治”也进一步扩张了。对政治恩惠的广泛而且前所未有的利用导致腐败，从根本上动摇了政体。自2013年以来合法性变成更多以马来人为中心的伊斯兰的话语体系。由于这个转变，合法性在种族和宗教少数群体中受到侵蚀。受到腐败丑闻的影响，总理自身的合法性也降低了。本论文有助于摸清各个支柱之间互补性的欠缺以及专制政体在危机中的失败，这对于理解2018年以来马来西亚的政治发展也是非常重要的。

Translated by Li Guo