Regime support in Singapore: from enigma to ‘new normal’

Abstract

ABSTRACT Singapore is seen as an outlier or abnormal case by political scientists, defying predictions in the social science literature about the causal connection between economic development and democratization. Using data from three different waves of the Asian Barometer Survey (ABS), we found that Singapore’s regime resilience is a product of citizen support for the government’s performance in providing economic welfare, together with positive evaluations of the current regime. But our findings also indicate that the degree to which these factors influence regime resilience has changed over time. What we found suggest that Singapore’s regime resilience cannot be simply reduced to elite repression, or an electorate that has chosen to trade freedom for economic development. The consistent electoral support received by the ruling party in Singapore is the product of a more complex relationship with democracy than just a vote for authoritarianism or prioritizing economic development over democracy.