ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the formation of affirmative action regimes in Malaysia and South Africa. I discuss the historical circumstances that gave rise to inter-racial systemic disparities and a disadvantaged, politically dominant majority group. Contrasting circumstances gave rise to contrasting policy regimes. Malaysia’s experience is shaped by its constitutional provisions for affirmative action, reinforcement from the 1970s of race-based politics and Malay primacy, executive dominance and centralization of government and unique configuration of majority-minority power in the economy and bureaucracy. In contrast, South Africa’s affirmative action stemmed from its unique constitutional basis, and the country’s democratization and decentralized federalism. South Africa also shifted from minority to majority rule and grappled with the apartheid legacy of comprehensive minority dominance. These factors, together with global and domestic macroeconomic conditions, converged to shape affirmative action regimes characterized by a discretionary, centralized, quota-based system in Malaysia and a statutory, decentralized, target-oriented system in South Africa. These institutional features, in turn, impact on the scope, orientation and mechanisms of specific affirmative programmes.
