Singapore: Contradicting Conventional Wisdoms About Authoritarianism, State, and Development

The political system of Singapore appears to contradict conventional wisdom in political science. Despite a very high level of social and economic modernization, a small group of administrative and political elites governs the city-state autocratically. Despite its authoritarian regime type, it scores well on established measures for the rule of law, bureaucratic quality, and public goods provision. While PAP has been in power since 1959, the party as organization is almost invisible in daily life. Despite the very substantial and interventionist role of the state in economic development, Singapore ranks among the freest market economies worldwide. The city is an international media hub and home to one of the most connected digital infrastructures and digital societies, yet its media is unfree. Finally, the state tightly administrates and regulates political and social activities, and the government in Singapore, as all authoritarian governments do, relies on repression to guarantee regime survival; its use is highly selective and of low intensity, stressing self-regulation with the mere threat of coercion. Even though genuine opposition parties regularly achieve between 20 and 40% of the total vote, they are barely represented in parliament. This chapter provides a systematic overview of the political actors, institutions, and dynamics of Singapore’s political system and summarizes its history and recent developments.