Budaya Politik Federal: Memikirkan Federalisme Malaysia Dari Perspektif Normatif (Federal Political Culture: Rethinking Malaysian Federalism In Normative Perpective)

Abstract

The current debates on Malaysian federalism often constrained to structural and institutional discussions such as in the division of powers, fiscal federalism and the relation of centre-state governments. This article, however, attempts to add a new layer to the intellectual corpus by exploring the subject matter from a normative perspective, that is federal political culture - as a set of behavioural rules and mechanisms in managing ethnic diversity and political stability. Thisperspective focuses on three issues in managing an ethnically divided society, namely federalism as a morally binding agreement, federalism as social solidarity and federalism as a decentralisation of power. Using primary source through interviews and secondary sources such as scholarly works and newspapers which are qualitatively analysed, this article argues that federal political culture is central in a federal state such as Malaysia due to its compatibility with the core principles in federalism such as unity in diversity, separation of powers, autonomy and political co-operation. In the end, this article concludes that federal political culture can provide a way of thinking, actions and political cultures that meet the values of federalism and thus promotes social cohesion, territorial integrity and political stability in Malaysia.