Suchergebnisse

This article attempts to analyze the process of selective history and hegemony-making in Singapore, and makes the following arguments. Firstly, the birth of the nation-state led the political elites to rely on several hegemonic ideologies as founding myths, chief of which is the idea of 'survival'. Secondly, to create and sustain these ideologies, two things needed to be done concurrently: de-emphasize the Malay-ness of the nation's past; and accentuate the racial/religious nature of sources to instability. Finally, the article makes the claim that these ideologies have been successfully perpetuated, and outlines the contours of this success. In making these arguments, the article hopes to argue against Singapore 'exceptionalism' in studies on democratization, and further contends that the link between ideas, history and authoritarianism needs to be considered more seriously.

AbstractThis article investigates the efficacy of a form of electoral innovation unique to the island-state of Singapore, the Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) scheme, and its impact on democratic governance, in light of the changing political landscape. A comparative perspective will be employed and broader conclusions on electoral engineering will be reached, especially for democratizing countries. Contrary to conventional scholarly wisdom, I argue that the NMP scheme can actually boost democratic representation in the country, considering the changing political landscape in the state previously dominated by a hegemonic party. This is via two ways: firstly, NMPs could better represent the voices of the people at the margins of society and, secondly, they could be better positioned to raise issues that are deemed too 'sensitive' to be raised by opposition parties. NMPs can enhance democratic governance by promoting deliberation, accountability, and representation.

Abstract: This article attempts to analyse the reasons for the Malay community's seeming support for the People's Action Party (PAP) government in Singapore, in spite of online discontent that was expressed towards the party immediately prior to the elections. The article makes three main arguments: first, that the reasons explaining the community's support for PAP are similar to other Singaporeans, such as the death of founding leader Lee Kuan Yew and the risk-averse nature of the electorate; second, that institutional impediments exist with regard to the community that heavily favour the government; and third, that the main opposition party, the Workers' Party, has not been able to present itself as a viable alternative to PAP for the community in terms of either quality of candidates or ideas for governance.