15. Gerontocracy:: A form of government in which the elderly rule, and of which, Malaysia is an exemplar, with Mahathir Mohamed holding the record for the world’s oldest Elected leader when he became Prime Minister in 2018 after GE14.
Bureaucracy: Not a form of government but an aspect of governance, one that can, nevertheless, dominate all others. In Malaysia it serves to effect an Ethnocracy.
10. Economocracy: A form of government, dominated by ‘specialists’, driven by economic priorities and often leading to the sublimattion of sectional interests in public policy applied, purportedly, for the public good..
8. Theocracy: An archaic form of government, soon to make a comeback near you! In Malaysia, theocracy used to vie for power with ethnocracy but in GE15 these the forces pushing for these two systems of goverments have coalaced to an unprecedented degree.
6. Idiocracy: A form of government familiar to Malaysians. Beyond corruption and communal interests, it is carelessness, waste and stupidity that are the greatest impedements to the achievement of good governance. Of course, there is no denying that corruption and the shameless expresession of communal inerests can lead to Idiocracy.
5. Meritocracy: A form of government based on fair competition and excellence. Of course, while claims are made for this form of governance, it can not exist without equality of opportunity. This is a reflexive relationship. The more opportunity a community or class has, the more capacity for merit its members might accrue. Less opportunity for the group will make it harder for individuals to achieve thge so called ‘meritorious’ results. Unmitigated meritocracy might bring what I call synchronic justice, but it might be unjust in terms of the history of opportunity. This historical dimension can be addressed by affirmative action, which might enable what I term diachronic justice. Malaysia’s NEP is a case in point. The problem, however, is that it is very difficult to ascertain when diachronic justice has been done and the goal must be reset to synchronic justice .
3. Hypnocracy: A form of government based on the susseptibility of human consciousness to having its attention focused from the outside, resulting in a reduced awareness of political reality and an enhanced capacity to respond to manipulative suggestions. This term was coined by Mark Parlett.
2. Ethnocracy: A form of government based on communalism. It is more widespread than you might think. Sometimes it is an explicit premise, at other times, it is just an unstated reality. Wherever the communal organization is stated explicitly in law, we find the formal ethnocracy that we call apartheid.
Here are three instances of legislated ethnocracy – 1) Canada, the quintessential settler-colonial ethnocracy, based on the Indian Act, status identity cards, and native reservations, upon which South African apartheid was based. 2) Malaysia, where there is a constitutionally enshrined ‘special position’ for the indigenous Malays by which they assert their supremacy over immigrant Indians and Chinese who settled under the auspices of colonial rule. 3) Israel, where there is an ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands effected through an apartheid system that involves limiting the Palestinian’s right to movement, denying them the right to vote, and subjecting them to a separate legal system. The seal was set on this ethnocracy, when Israel passed a law in 2018, symbolically affirming that it was the nation-state of the Jewish people.
Teka Teki: Malaysia, Canada, Israel; Apa Persamaannya? Jawapan: Semuanya mengamalkan Ethnocracy!
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