The Role of Nationalism

A detailed Summary of The Role of Nationalism


In the article 'Culture Is Destiny' (Foreign Affairs, 73(2), 1994) Lee kuan Yew discusses ideas about Singapore and the importance of 'culture' to its people. Lee suggests the implementation of a Western styled democracy inapplicable to Asian societies due to cultural differences. I will discuss the adoption of 'cultural nationalism' and 'Asian values' and its use by elites in Singapore to justify the current regime's stance against democracy. I will argue the implementation of a Western styled democratic political nation state can still accommodate cultural issues Lee suggests are unworkable.

East Asian society has been under pressure to apply democratic systems of government due to globalisation. In the case of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew selectively

adopted the idea of a 'Western' free market economy and as a result ,has had great economic success (Dae Jung 1994, p. 118). This occurred while elites such as Lee Quan Yew, held tight political control over the country Zakaria argues that:

'Singapore's government can best be described a


In the article 'Is Culture Destiny' Kim Dae Jung acknowledges the importance of culture, but argues that culture alone cannot determine a society's fate (Jung 1994, p.118). In contrast to Lee's suggestion that Confucianism is the basic concept of Asian civilisation, Jung presents an argument that Asia has a history based on democratic values beyond that of the writings of John Locke and that Democracy can accommodate culture. According to Locke, sovereign rights reside with the people and, based on a contract with the people, leaders are given a mandate to govern, which the people can withdraw' (Jung 1994, p.118). At this point one can consider that in a democracy the people have the sovereign rights, and if they so wish democracy can accommodate culture as well as provide a government that protects human rights, security, laws and at the same time providing for the general will of the people (Jung 1994, p.117).

'Moreover Lee's view of culture is not only unsupportable but self serving'

Due to the extended length of the PAP and the us

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 705
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics

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