Abstract

This exploratory article seeks to analyze the nature and impact of one of the main democracy promoters in Malaysia i.e. the United States (US). The US is a promoter that is often being alleged with interfering with Malaysian domestic affairs, especially since the sacking of former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. This article argues that the US democracy promotion in Malaysia can be conceptualized under the framework of a concurrent democracy assistance strategy. This is due to the fact that while the US is supporting the non-regime compatible program, it is also concurrently channeling bigger aid for regime-compatible program to Malaysia from 1999–2015. The improvement of diplomatic ties between both countries since post-Mahathir era and the prioritization of security issues have led to a more engaging conduct of democracy promotion. Despite the US continuous funding of non-regime-compatible programs through non-state actors, this approach was nevertheless balanced by cordial relations at the state level. Nevertheless, the effect of US democracy assistance and promotion on Malaysia’s democratic development has been minimal, reinforcing the views on the difficulty to promote democracy in a semi-authoritarian regime.

摘要

这篇探索性文章旨在分析马来西亚主要民主推动者之一，即美国（US）的性质和影响。美国是促进人们干涉马来西亚内政的推动者，特别是自1998年前副总理安瓦尔·易卜拉欣被解职以来。本文认为，美国在马来西亚的民主推广可以在一个框架内构想。并发民主援助战略。这是由于以下事实：美国在支持与非政权兼容的计划时，同时还从1999年至2015年向马来西亚提供了与政权兼容的计划的更大援助。自从马哈蒂尔时代以来，两国之间的外交关系得到改善，安全问题的优先考虑，导致了更富魅力的民主促进行为。尽管美国通过非国家行为者不断为不符合政权的计划提供资金，但这种方法仍然受到州一级亲切关系的平衡。然而，美国民主援助和促进对马来西亚民主发展的影响微乎其微，这增强了人们对在半威权政权中促进民主的困难的看法。