When Malaysia’s 13th general elections were held in 2013, one of the few remaining single dominant parties in the world was expected to fall. Parties in a fledgling opposition coalition had shown the capacity to competently rule individual state governments in the Malaysian federation and govern them in a transparent and accountable manner. Public discontent with federal government was rife due to the ubiquity of politics of patronage that had prevented responsible implementation of policies or the introduction of relevant policies to address economic crises and social inequities. Why then did regime change not occur? How does the protracted rule of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) relate to debates on authoritarian durability, during a period when dominant parties struggle to sustain their hegemony? There was little evidence of massive electoral fraud. This lecture analyzes the lessons of the 2013 election through the lens of a) coalition politics and b) how public policies have shaped voting trends. It takes into account clientelist practices, mobilization and governance, and policies to address socioeconomic inequities and drive economic growth. Edmund Terence Gomez specializes in state-market relations and linkages between politics, policies and capital development. He has held appointments at Universities of Leeds (UK), Murdoch (Australia), Kobe (Japan), Michigan (Ann Arbor) and California (San Diego) and as Research Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) in Geneva (2005-2008). His publications include Malaysia’s Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and Profits (Cambridge UP), Chinese Business in Malaysia (University of Hawaii Press, 1999), Political Business in East Asia (Routledge 2002), The State of Malaysia: Ethnicity, Equity and Reform (Routledge 2004), The State, Development and Identity in Multi-ethnic Countries: Ethnicity, Equity and the Nation (Routledge 2008), The Chinese in Britain, 1800-Present (Palgrave Macmillan 2008), The Politics of Resource Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Multinational Corporations and the State (Palgrave Macmillan 2012), Affirmative Action, Ethnicity and Conflict (Routledge 2013) and Government-Linked Companies and Sustainable, Equitable Development (Routledge 2015).