The Process of Democratization in Malaysia

This book seeks to examine the relationship between civil society and the process of democratization in Malaysia. Civil society is a key point in democratization strategies and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) play an important role in the democratization process in Malaysia. CSOs often push the government to hold fair and clean elections, or reform the judiciary, or adopt international human rights standards, or indeed take any of the other measures that a comprehensive process of democratization would require. CSOs would become the locomotives for democratization process alongside the political parties. The purpose of this book is to explore and explain the role of civil society in Malaysia in the process of democratization. Democracy is the final destination of democratization. The book covers the theoretical framework and methodology. The concepts of “the State”, “democracy”, “democratization”, “civil society” and “social capital” will be examined. Of course, the evolution of Malaysian civil society will also be explored.