The Limits of Authoritarian Governance in Singapore's Developmental State

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

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2. Introduction: Authoritarian Governance in Singapore’s Developmental State

   • Lily Zubaidah Rahim, Michael D. Barr

   Pages 1-25

3. Historical Context

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 27-27

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   2. Singapore and the Lineages of Authoritarian Modernity in East Asia

      • Mark R. Thompson

      Pages 29-48

   3. Independence: The Further Stage of Colonialism in Singapore

      • Ping Tjin Thum

      Pages 49-69

   4. Albert Winsemius and the Transnational Origins of High Modernist Governance in Singapore

      • Kah Seng Loh

      Pages 71-91

4. Political and Policy Context

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 93-93

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   2. Social Policy Reform and Rigidity in Singapore’s Authoritarian Developmental State

      • Lily Zubaidah Rahim, Yeoh Lam Keong

      Pages 95-130

   3. New Politics and Old Managerialism: Welcome to the New Normal

      • Michael D. Barr

      Pages 131-149

   4. Intra-Party Dynamics in the People’s Action Party: Party Structure, Continuity and Hegemony

      • Walid Jumblatt Abdullah

      Pages 151-171

   5. The Growing Challenge of Pluralism and Political Activism: Shifts in the Hegemonic Discourse in Singapore

      • Stephan Ortmann

      Pages 173-194

   6. PAP Vulnerability and the Singapore Governance Model: Findings from the Asian Barometer Survey

      • Bridget Welsh, Alex H. Chang

      Pages 195-216

5. Media and Political Communication

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 217-217

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   2. Aligning Media Policy with Executive Dominance

      • Cherian George

      Pages 219-232

   3. Pragmatic Competence and Communication Governance in Singapore

      • Terence Lee

      Pages 233-253

6. Legal and Constitutional Context

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 255-255

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   2. Legislating Dominance: Parliament and the Making of Singapore’s Governance Model

      • Kevin Y. L. Tan

      Pages 257-275

   3. Governing Authoritarian Law: Law as Security

      • Jothie Rajah

      Pages 277-303

   4. Conclusion: Democratising Singapore’s Developmental State

      • Dan Slater

      Pages 305-319

7. Back Matter

   Pages 321-329

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This book delves into the limitations of Singapore’s authoritarian governance model. In doing so, the relevance of the Singapore governance model for other industrialising economies is systematically examined. Research in this book examines the challenges for an integrated governance model that has proven durable over four to five decades. The editors argue that established socio-political and economic formulae are now facing unprecedented challenges. Structural pressures associated with Singapore’s particular locus within globalised capitalism have fostered heightened social and material inequalities, compounded by the ruling party’s ideological resistance to substantive redistribution. As ‘growth with equity’ becomes more elusive, the rationale for power by a ruling party dominated by technocratic elite and state institutions crafted and controlled by the ruling party  and its bureaucratic allies is open to more critical scrutiny.

• Authoritarianism & Singapore
• Developmental State & Singapore
• Democratisation in Singapore
• Governance in Singapore
• Singapore
• Social Policy in Singapore
• Welfare in Singapore
• Authoritarian Modernity in East Asia
• Colonialism in Singapore
• Social Policy Reform in Singapore
• Populist Managerialism in Singapore
• Intra-Party Dynamics in the People’s Action Party
• Pluralism and Political Activism in Singapore
• Singapore Governance Model
• Media Policy & Singapore
• Governing Authoritarian Law in Singapore
• democracy

• Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

  Lily Zubaidah Rahim

• College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

  Michael D. Barr

Lily Zubaidah Rahim is an Associate Professor of Government & International Relations at the University of Sydney and a specialist in authoritarian governance, democratisation, ethnicity and political Islam. Her books include The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the Malay Community, (1998), Singapore in the Malay World: Building and Breaching Regional Bridges (2010), Muslim Secular Democracy (2013), and The Politics of Islamism (2018). Lily Zubaidah is currently President of the Malaysia and Singapore Society of Australia (MASSA) and Vice-President of the Australian Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies.

Michael Barr is an Associate Professor of International Relations in the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University. His books include Lee Kuan Yew: The Beliefs behind the Man (2000 ), Constructing Singapore: Elitism, Ethnicity and Nation Building (2008), The Ruling Elite of Singapore (2014) and Singapore: A Modern History (2018). He was Editor-in-Chief of Asian Studies Review from 2012-2017.

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