Is Singapore a unique form of
Is Singapore a unique form of democracy?The Singapore government has captured the imagination of the West, having been described as authoritarian and undemocratic, yet enjoying a baffling run of economic success generally achieved by free, democratic, capitalist states. Its success has lent justification to the formation of the Singapore School that championed a separate ‘Asian-style’ democracy that eschews some of the accepted features of liberal democracy in favour of greater state control. This has divided critics over the legitimacy of democracy Singapore-style. This paper – by looking at Asian-style democracy vis a vis liberal democracy, and through examining the extent to which democratic institutions are present in Singapore – hopes to determine if Singapore is truly a unique form of democracy or if it is simply authoritarianism by another name. Democracy is a contentious term to define, replete with numerous qualifications and caveats. The common definition of “of the people, for the people, by the people” captures the spirit of the concept, but doesn’t advance an understanding of what constitutes a democracy. Neher and Marlay (1995), note that democracy recognizes individual rights and places less belligerent lea
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Approximate Word count = 2513
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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