ABSTRACT
The behavioral analysis of institutions typically draws on the perceptions and behaviors of their members. This chapter explores the structure of Malaysian politics through its historical, economic, and institutional components. Strong linkages between the economy and communalism are everywhere in Malaysia. The achievement of the twin goals of the New Economic Policy is heavily dependent upon continued and substantial economic growth. Governmental arrangements for the Federation of Malaysia extend beyond the conventional provisions found in most constitutions. The choice of federalism over a unitary form of government constituted one indigene-oriented adaptation of the British system. Government policy in Malaysia has been greatly influenced, as the preceding section on economics in a divided society makes clear, by the drive to benefit Malays and other indigenous people through direct government action. The Malaysian political process offers some exceptions to the closed system of elite bargaining proposed by some theorists of divided societies.
