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DissertationDOI

Engaging divided society in the nation-building process : the case of government communication in Malaysia

16 Jul 2020-
TL;DR: Thematic analysis on all eleven national action plan (NAP) documents known as Malaysia Plan (1965-2016) was conducted to enable the pattern of similarities and differences in nation-building and government communication strategies to be identified over time as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: This thesis explores how government engages with a divided society in the context of nation-building. The widely used yet loosely understood concept of ‘engagement’ in the context of government communication is the focus of this thesis. By using Malaysia as the case study, this research investigates how citizens are communicatively constructed in the context of Malaysia’s post-independence nation-building process. This study is significant because research on citizen engagement in Malaysia’s nation-building is limited and studies focusing on the concept of engagement in deeply divided societies are also scarce.Thematic analysis on all eleven national action plan (NAP) documents known as Malaysia Plan (1965-2016) was conducted to enable the pattern of similarities and differences in nation-building and government communication strategies to be identified over time. Semi-structured elite interviews with the elite actors in Malaysia’s federal government were conducted to understand the government’s articulation and operationalisation of engagement in the context of nation-building process.The key findings from the NAPs reveal that the nation-building in Malaysia takes in a form of national identity project. Adopting an elite instrumentalist approach, national unity becomes the focal communicative strategy in the construction of the national identity. The elite interviews on the other hand demonstrate that government actors tend to describe engagement using the notion of dialogic communication. While acknowledging the advancement in communication technologies, government actors emphasise that the face-to-face engagement initiatives with the citizens are of central importance in the nation-building process.This thesis contributes to the studies of government strategic communication in the context of a deeply divided society that has been characterised as "plural society" that is in a state of “stable tension” (Shamsul, 2009). It helps to develop a richer understanding and knowledge of Malaysia’s nation-building process and approach as a modern postcolonial nation.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examines the origin and rationale of ethnic preferences, major domains of ethnic contestation and state intervention, critical impacts of such ethnic preferential policies, and possibilities to replace such preferential policies by alternative policy measures in Malaysia.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse how political space, defined as the ability of actors other than the government to critically engage in debate on government policy and practice, is being constituted in post-genocide Rwanda.
Abstract: This article analyses how political space, defined here as the ability of actors other than the government to critically engage in debate on government policy and practice, is being constituted in post-genocide Rwanda. Using evidence from interviews with civil society activists and examples from the Rwandan Government's post-genocide policies, it explores the kind of political space which results from an interplay of potentially competing influences. These include the promotion of a liberal approach to democracy, favoured by many of Rwanda's donors, and a more tightly-managed and limited transition which is both preferred by and beneficial for the RPF Government. The article shows that although space could be seen in some areas as opening, this trend is hampered by government actions, including legislative and shadow methods, by donor reluctance to pressure the ruling RPF and by fear within civil society of tackling politically sensitive issues. In conclusion, the author suggests that this fear is reinforced by government policies which narrow perceptions of political space, exacerbated by perceived abandonment of civil society by donors, and that in combination these factors pose a long-term challenge to more openly contested politics in Rwanda.

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