[Recording] The Roots of Resilience: Party Machines and Grassroots Politics in Southeast Asia

[Recorded March 7, 2022]

Meredith Weiss, Professor of Political Science at SUNY, Albany, discussed her book, The Roots of Resilience, and its core findings with Walid Jumblatt Abdullah, a professor at Nanyang Technological University. The book examines governance from the ground up in the world’s two most enduring electoral authoritarian or “hybrid” regimes—regimes that blend politically liberal and authoritarian features to evade substantive democracy. While key attributes of Singapore and Malaysia’s regimes differ, affecting the scope, character, and balance among national parties and policies, local machines, and personalized linkages, the two polities also share important features. Taken together, these attributes accustom citizens to the system in place, making meaningful change in how electoral mobilization and policymaking happen all the harder to change. The discussion was moderated by NYSEAN co-founder Margaret Scott.