Understanding the Dewan Rakyat provides a comprehensive profile of the Lower House of Parliament in Malaysia, known as the Dewan Rakyat, as a measure of the state of the country's parliamentary democracy. The book provides answers to help readers understand Malaysia's system of governance, and how power is vested in Parliament, in the speaker of the House, and in those who are elected to represent the people. For the first time in Malaysia, the book also compiles the profiles of all 222 Members of Parliament (MPs) who were elected in 2008. These profiles were obtained through The Nut Graph's MP Watch: Eye on Parliament online project, and provide voters with a sense of how their respective MPs would vote on issues that affect Malaysia's democracy.