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Politics and GovernanceThis core area has two distinct but clearly related prongs. The first has to do with party and electoral politics. It also includes the politics of public policy-making in that there is constant negotiation between state and non-state actors for the recognition of needs, resources, power and authority in both the deliberation and implementation of public policy. This is referred to as state-society relations.
Our approach to the development of state-society relations is that socio-economic structures and forces feed into politics and the political system. They are themselves influenced by how political elites shape the political system and policies. Singapore’s evolution into a mature industrial society, the impact of a globalizing post-industrial world, and its multicultural complexion raise important issues regarding social cohesion and the political challenge of how to manage difference in the future.
Another important indicator of trends in state-society relations that the Institute is monitoring is the development of civil society in Singapore, in particular the capacity of citizens for self-help and self-organisation for political participation.
Governance issues, on the other hand, include how bureaucracy functions, and the design and management of public consultation and feedback processes. Key developments in the decentralisation and devolution of central state authority to local structures, like the formation of town councils and community development councils in the past, are of interest here.
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STAFF |
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KEY PROJECTS/PUBLICATIONS |
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THE WHOLE WORLD CAN BECOME DEMOCRATIC, EVEN SINGAPORE! Report on Public Lecture by Professor Larry Diamond, 12 September 2006
OF BIG CITIZENS, INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES, AND SHARED VALUES Report on IPS Young Singaporeans Conference 2006, 19-20 September 2006
Behind-the-Scenes of 'That IPS Survey' By Gillian Koh, June 2006.
By Gillian Koh, Tan Ern Ser and Jeanne Conceicao, June 2006.
"Report: IPS Forum on the Casino Proposal" Gillian Koh, 10 January 2005.
"Developments In Singapore 2004" Speech by Jeanne Conceicao at Singapore International Foundation’s 6TH Overseas Singapore Clubs Forum, 11 February 2005.
Report on Government-Initiated Public Consultation in Singapore: Case Studies, Feedback and Recommendations Gillian Koh, April 2004
Relationship between State and Civil Society in Singapore: Clarifying the Concepts, Assessing the Ground Gillian Koh and Ooi Giok Ling, in Lee Hock Guan (ed.), Civil Society in Southeast Asia, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2004. pp. 167-197.
The IPS Civil Society Organisations Survey Project 2000 Gillian Koh and Ooi Giok Ling, in Constance Singam, Tan Chong Kee, Tisa Ng, and Leon Perera (eds.), Building Social Space in Singapore, Singapore: Select Publishing, 2002, pp.189-206.
Singapore: A Home, A Nation? Gillian Koh & Ooi Giok Ling, in Southeast Asian Affairs 2002. Singapore:
The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002 State-Society Relations in Singapore
Gillian Koh & Ooi Giok Ling. Singapore: IPS &
Oxford University Press, 2000 Mandarin, Masses and Mnemonic Devices: An Inquiry into the State of Social Capital Between the Government and Civil Society in Singapore
Project co-organised with the Master in Public
Policy Programme, National University of Singapore, Jan 2000 - mid-2001
Citizens And
The Nation - Ips Survey Of National Pride And
Citizens' Psychological Ties To The Nation,
18 February 2000
Ooi Giok Ling, Tan Ern Ser & Gillian Koh, in
Asia Pacific Journal of Political Science, Vol.7 No.2, 1999 Social Indicators Survey (Political Attitudes and Participation)
The Social Indicators Research Project,
co-organised with the Department of Sociology, National University of
Singapore, 1997 - 1998 Conference on Civil Society: Harnessing State-Society Synergies 6 - 7 May 1998
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FUTURE RESEARCH |
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Given adequate funding, the Institute seeks to conduct a multi-year research programme titled Social Cohesion in Singapore. This looks at various possible sources of social tension in Singapore society to map various possible trajectories and implications for cohesion and political management for years ahead. The first two projects in the programme are already underway – one on Ethnic Relations and another on Religion (See section on Multiculturalism and Identities). Possible topics for future study include Class, Religion and Demography.
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