ABSTRACT
In Malaysia, the focus of representative activity has not been on policy responsiveness through collective decisions; rather, Malaysian MPs have emphasized acts of service to individual constituents, attempts to influence the allocation of government resources, and manipulation of symbolic public authority or symbolic constituent concerns. The Malaysian MP spends considerable effort as a communications link between the decision makers in the government and the constituents. MPs communicate the policy concerns of constituents, and they perceive a degree of influence on actual policy decisions. Local politicians, frequently Islamic-educated, represented certain rural Malay constituencies. Furthermore, the representation of new classes of political aspirants through alternatives to the Alliance parties has stimulated changes in the old guard. In order to enhance the impact of development programs on the rural Malays, the leadership wove MPs into the allocation web. Constituency service became the watchword for government MPs.
