ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the rise and persistence of party domination in four semiindustrialised countries, namely Mexico, Taiwan, Malaysia and South Africa, with a side look at Singapore. It takes into account three major differences with the history of dominant parties in advanced industrialised countries like those in Sweden, Japan and Italy. Dominant parties in advanced countries went through a cycle of domination, beginning with the inauguration of dominant party rule, passing through a consolidation phase and ending with its firsttime defeat. By contrast, this study deals with an unfinished history. The PRI in Mexico appears to many to be coming to the end of its prolonged dominance, which creates a major crisis for the party; the KMT in Taiwan is surviving quite well the shift to a competitive party system and a liberal democracy; UMNO in Malaysia presides over what seems to be a durable semi-democracy which is less pluralistic than the system of three decades ago; and the ANC in its term of what in all likelihood will be a fairly lengthy period of dominance.
