Public Finance and Democratic Accountability in Malaysia

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K21493
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Politics; Area studies
• Research Institution: Doshisha University
• Principal Investigator: Suzuki Ayame 同志社大学, 法学部, 教授 (60610227)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: マレーシア / 財政 / 民主主義

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Based on the analysis on the federal budget of Malaysia, this project identified the surge in the budgetary distribution to the Ministry of Finance and Prime Minister's Office (both of which are under the purview of the Prime Minister) after the Asian Financial Crisis. It also identified that these allocations were utilized as political resources for the Prime Minister to bolster his support within the governing party as well as among the voters. The findings were published in five separate articles. The Budget documents were published in the website of a Malaysian NGO (Sinar Project) to enhance transparency. In addition to this. the proponent currently prepares a database website to enable users to access to the budget data.

Free Research Field

地域研究

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

財政に対する市民によるコントロールは、民主主義の根幹のひとつである。しかし、実際には財政政策は市民のニーズとは全く別の要因で決定されていることが少なくない。この研究では、マレーシアを事例にして、財政が首相の政治的な資源調達のために使われ、財政赤字が増加していく過程を、予算書の分析を通じて明らかにした。財政に対する市民の自覚を促すために、本研究ではマレーシアのNGOと協力して、予算書の公表を進めた。また、よりアクセスしやすいデータベースの構築も、後続プロジェクトのもとで進めている。