COMMENT | “That the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, or PAS, would develop into the biggest and strongest opposition party in postcolonial Malaysia was neither a fact that was predetermined nor necessary, though it happens to be a reality today.”

This seminal observation by political scientist Farish A Noor in “The Malaysian Islamic Party PAS 1951-2013: Islamism in a Mottled Nation” captures a profound truth that contemporary analysts frequently overlook.

Why does this observation matter so deeply today? Because in the realm of empirical political science, the enduring strength of a political party cannot be measured by the ephemeral highs and lows of a single electoral cycle. Instead, its longevity is determined by a rigorous metric: party institutionalisation.

In his foundational work “Political Order in Changing Societies” (1968), Samuel P Huntington posited that for an organisation to achieve genuine institutional density, it must exhibit four core structural dimensions: adaptability (the capacity to survive generational and environmental shifts), complexity (the multiplication of sub-units and organisational depth), autonomy (the ability to exist independently of specific charismatic individuals), and coherence (the degree of internal consensus and unity).

Expanding on this framework, political scientist Scott Mainwaring, in “Building Democratic Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America” (1995), introduced another vital variable: a highly institutionalised party must possess...