Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

We all know that the state consist of formal bodies and institutions designed to service human needs as they have developed over the incredibly long history, where most of it unwritten, of the social evolution. The state is in many respects an extension of the family - the family and also the clan and the tribe, were all designed to ensure minimum of security and well-being for their members and so is the state. The greater impersonality of the state reflects the bureaucracy that comes inevitably with routine, specialization of task, the distribution of benefits in terms of more of merits than personal acquaintance and not least, large number of people living in an extended geographic location. We also know that the emergence of the state is signaled in part of a self-conscious effort to explain its origins and to lend legitimacy of its institutions, bodies, personnel and policies. States also may differ markedly from one another in many ways, but they all have in common the primary ch...

Any or all the said sub-disciplines may be integrated into a comparative framework. When political analyst look at the political parties or socialization processes of two or more societies, they are able to clarify their generalizations about a particular political system because its characteristics are highlighted by comparison with those of other political systems. Comparative political analysis is also help to us in understanding and also identifying those characteristics which may be universal to the political process, regardless of time or place. In fact, it may be argued that no hypothesis or theory of politics deserves credibility unless it has been tested in several different societies - cross culturally. And while the traditional approach to comparative politics tended to describe only the institutional details of several foreign states, more recent trends have been in terms of specific system characteristics compared cross culturally. It is possible to learn more about execut...

Research has also been indispensable in attempts to learn how citizens do acquire the opinions , attitudes and basic beliefs that would determine their political behavior. Just for example, if our parents are loyal Barisan supporters and if they consider labour unions an unfortunate blight on the economic landscape, what are the chances that I will vote Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) or Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and regard businessmen as self-serving profiteers who compromise the public interest? To what extent do people acquire their political opinions from their family, school, associations, close acquaintances and professional colleagues and how do these patterns of socialization vary from one individual to another according to age, education, income, career and many other aspects? The characteristics of political socialization and clusters of opinions, attitudes and beliefs that make up the society are in turn a part of the society's political culture. And the characteristics ...

What is the mind of the public? How do opinions, attitudes and beliefs of citizens affect the policy making of political elites? What motivates citizens to vote or not to vote and why do they vote the way they do? Are voters oriented more towards issues or towards the personality of particular candidates or is their vote an expression of long standing loyalty to a particular party or leader, regardless of its candidates or position on the major issues of the day? If voters perceive a discrepancy or inconsistency between these various categories eg between party loyalty and the party's candidates, how are they likely to behave? And how do various orientations of voters relate to their level of formal education; the extent of their political knowledge; their age, sex, race, religion, profession, income and place of residence and the opinions of their close friends and relatives? What explains a voter's shift in political allegiance between elections or his willingness to vote for...

Many political analyst and scientist view the legislative branch of government as a primary institution that structures the conflict of interests and demands expressed by political parties as well as other political oriented groups in the society. From this perspective, the more important questions of politics are in terms of the organization and behavior of these groups, which find in a parliament or legislative assembly a means of formalizing their political, economic and social claims on one another. Especially from the standpoint of group theory, a bill passed by the legislature expresses simply the prevailing distribution of influence among competing groups or parties, each of them seeking to advance their own particular interests and objectives. It is appropriate to ask, then about the kinds of interests represented by these groups, the characteristics of their leadership, membership, organization, strategies and tactics for influencing public policies and the nature of their ac...

(We had saw how the Peaceful Assembly Bill being bulldozed into the parliament and quickly approved with limited debates, next would be the Computing Professionals Bill. So, how effective is the role of the parliament in our nation today? Some say the Malaysian parliament today is a mere rubber-stamp as the executive overly dominates the policy making role. What is your view then?) How are laws being made and how are they made not only in terms of constitutional prescription or the unwritten conventions of the legislature but also in terms of the clash of interests inside and outside the legislature arena? How do the rules and procedures of the legislatures, its system of committees, sub committees, affect the substances of the legislative policy? How is the power distribution among legislators themselves? And how is influence over the legislative process related to party and committee membership, seniority and personal relationship with the chief executive and with other members of th...

By Soong Phui Jee We used to say in the past that working in bank is a secure job but nowadays, working in government sectors is even better. During an exclusive interview with the Sin Chew Daily, Public Services Department pensions division director Datuk Yeow Chin Kiong had disclosed many unknown stories and data, including civil servants are receiving a lifelong support from taxpayers, they enjoy many subsidies and are not taxed, their spouses will continue to enjoy pensions if they pass away and a total of RM65.5 billion has been distributed to 600,000 retired civil servants over the past 10 years as wang ehsan and pensions. After the country has paid so much to the 1.29 million civil servants to eliminate their worries, have the public be rewarded? Undeniably, the government has been committed to enhancing the productivity and efficiency in public services since the administration of Tun Abdullah Badawi. For example, the establishment of the Special Task Force to Facilitate Busine...

Oleh Viktor Wong Di sebalik janji-janji perdana menteri dan presiden Umno Datuk Najib Razak untuk memerangi rasuah dan penyalahgunaan kuasa di dalam kerajaannya, melalui Program Transformasi Ekonomi dan sebagainya, jentera pentadbirannya masih dicacati pelbagai perbuatan yang dianggap menyalahi undang-undang, seperti penyalahgunaan kuasa, rasuah, penggelapan wang kerajaan dan sebagainya. Ini dengan jelas telah menunjukkan bahawa Suruhanjaya Pencegah Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) tidak memainkan peranan mereka dengan aktif di dalam memerangi gejala ini yang kian berterusan bahkan bertambah, sama seperti mengikut keturunan. Hampir pada setiap tahun, apabila laporan yang dikemukakan oleh Ketua Audit Negara, maka terdedahlah pelbagai perbuatan yang jelas menunjukkan bahawa penyalahgunaan kuasa dan rasuah amat meluas sekali di dalam sektor awam. Namum demikian, kerajaan BN yang di bawah pimpinan Najib telah gagal menunjukkan ketegasan mereka di dalam memerangi perbuatan yang tidak bermoral ini. In...

By Soong Phui Jee Is the BN well prepared for the 13th general election? I don't think so. At least it still has to deliberate in fielding candidates. Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak called for an alternative development and leadership plan during the opening of the 40th Gerakan national delegates conference. However, Penang Gerakan chief Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan expressed difficulties in rearranging the line-up, implicating that he did not think BN could regain Penang. Najib wants the Penang Gerakan to make a painful decision but the Gerakan has no idea how to make it, showing a communication problem and differences in strategy. It is indeed a great taboo in politics. If the so-called "sacrifice" means party president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Teng Hock Nan and Penang Gerakan vice-president Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye will not be contesting in the next general election and let secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow and Penang Gerakan vice-chairman Ong Thean ...

Oleh Viktor Wong Baru-baru ini Utusan Malaysia, sebuah akhbar milik penuh Umno mendakwa bahawa Malaysiakini tidak menghormati titah Sultan Selangor malah mempersoal titah baginda dengan lantang. Lupakah Utusan Malaysia bahawa pada suatu ketika dahulu, akhbar Umno tersebut juga pernah menderhakai institusi raja sebelum ini. Malah Umno juga pada suatu masa pernah lantang mengkritik institusi raja dengan mengatakan baginda-baginda menyalahgunakan kuasa. Sebenarnya, Umno adalah merupakan petualang dan penderhaka yang sebenarnya sejak dari tahun 1920 lagi. Peristiwa di Johor dan Perak Pengasas Umno, Datuk Onn Jaafar, iaitu datuk kepada naib presiden Umno sekarang Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein, telah dibuang dari Istana Johor pada tahun 1920 dan membawa diri beliau ke Singapura kerana mengkritik Sultan Johor pada ketika itu, atas isu harta dan hutang keluarga baginda. Dalam tahun 1974, Tan Sri Ghazali Jawi, ayah kepada bekas ketua perhubungan Umno Perak Datuk Tajol Rosli Ghazali, enggan meletak...

By Viktor Wong We are sure that everyone of us had seen and read the Barisan Nasional (BN) government's 2012 budget and its impact to our people. So, what do we get then? First thing in our mind here is there's actually nothing at all for us in our capacity as taxpayers or could we say a better word like, stakeholder of this country of ours. Yes, the handout was so and overly "generous" but in the end who is bearing all those costs and effects? Clearly, it is our people who has to bear all those? The perks and benefits of civil servants had increased so much given to the fact that the federal government has the highest number of employees in this country and yet they are still employing reasoning that they are still unable to cover their various "workloads" as claimed. And despite these civil servants has been getting more and more benefits, their productivity has never increase at all, based on the public feedback on their services and responses to public a...

By Viktor Wong We had managed to get some Sabahan's who are currently working in peninsular for an interview on the current situation on their homeland on condition that we should not expose their identities for fear of persecution by the state authorities and the local ruling elites. We agreed that safeguarding their identities will be our utmost priority. When we started interviewing them on the current socio-economic and political situation in Sabah, we were gravely shock to hear the worst of all over what we had actually expected. Composition of ethnics in Sabah As expected, if a general question were to put forward on who is the largest and majority stakeholder in Sabah's ethnicity, everyone of us would certainly to give one straight answer, that is the combination Kadazan Dusun and Muruts. Okay, let us look at the current ethnic composition which we got from various source. The Kadazan Dusun and Muruts current consist of about 21.1%, while the Bajaus are 13.4%, Malays con...

Compiled by Viktor Wong Elections are underway in China. Not for the country's presidency but for "Renmin Daibiao," or the National People's Congress (NPC). Over the next few months, electorates in townships and urban districts all over the country will elect delegates to their both local and provincial levels People's Congress, the lowest and provincial levels of China's multi-tiered parliamentary system. Conducted every five years, this is the only time citizens can directly vote for their legislators. On paper, anyone can seek a seat by collecting signatures of at least 10 constituents. But in China's tightly-controlled political system, all candidates are closely vetted by both Chinese Communist Party (CCP) local and top officials. Elections are carefully choreographed. Still, there are more than 100 people who have bravely coma forward to offer themselves as independent candidates. Among them is Li Chengpeng, who has declared his candidacy on Weibo, C...

By Nour Samaha With the presentation of the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations Security Council happening now, activists, analysts, and academics within the Palestinian diaspora are becoming more vocal on issues that they say need to be addressed immediately. Two issues have been coming to the forefront of the debate; the representation and the right of return of the diaspora, and the legitimacy of the Palestinian officials presenting the bid. Karim Makdissi, an associate professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera that "the reputations of Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat are shoddy, and their track records demonstrate the kind of success they are going to bring at this stage." "Erekat resigned from his post earlier this year, and suddenly made a comeback, how was he able to do this? There is almost no accountability to the questions raised in the Palestine Papers, neither of them seem to understand the notio...

By Shannon Teoh Bersih said today the ban on a video promoting the right to vote flies in the face of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s push for greater democracy. The electoral reforms movement called for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to allow the Undilah public service announcement to be aired by local broadcasters as it posed no threat to the public. “It’s sad that a video like that can be seen as threatening. If that is considered sensitive, what kind of democracy and political liberalisation is the prime minister talking about? “It looks like he is doing one thing while his government is doing something else,” steering committee member Subramaniam Pillay told a press conference this morning. The Malaysian Insider reported this morning that the MCMC directed local broadcasters not to use the video because it contains opposition figures and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s speech about Malaysia having problems. “What is wrong with asking people to vote? Even the 1 Ma...