ABSTRACT
Legislatures are all “representative” institutions, yet adequately conceptualizing representation has been one of the most persistent problems facing students of legislative behavior. Effective representation in the realm requires a meaningful connection between constituents’ policy preferences, demands, or needs and the representative’s decisions. Malaysia provides an important case for exploring the evolving role of a representative institution in a Third World setting and for advancing understanding of democratic evolution elsewhere in developing areas. Malaysia is a communal society — a society with “segments whose institutions, cultures, and values differ fundamentally”. The variations in focus enrich the possibilities for representative activity, and may be particularly important for analyzing representative behavior in polities cleft by the divisions of communalism or the incipient divisions of modernization. A collection of studies of legislatures and development in new states reinforces the importance of the mediating role of the legislator in the developing setting.
