satayxp
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- May 10, 2004
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General election 2015: Huge win for PAP signals stasis
Consider this: The PAP didn’t even bother to address the broad issues in much of their campaign. They stuck to local improvements combined with mud-slinging at the opposition. Yet, it was enough to satisfy voters and win a landslide. They knew they weren’t facing sophisticated voters.
Characteristics of the electorate:
- very comfortable with the notion of a paternalistic state;
- unconcerned by the state resorting to repressive measures, even if it means loss of civil liberties;
- uninterested in details of how problems should be tackled, instead trusting of broad assurances that they will be tackled;
- unmoved by appeals for check and balance (do not see much value in it).
This is a sign of a very short-termist — and if you wish to be uncharitable, intellectually lazy — electorate.
Implication:
Looking at the long term, this result kind of confirms what I have long felt to be Singapore’s future: A lengthy period of stasis supported by a complacent electorate, increasingly relying on outmoded models of governance, gradually losing vitality. The failure to accommodate incremental change or build political safety nets will mean that when scandal and political crisis hits, as it surely will, the tumble will be very severe. I have long entertained the possibility that the tumble will be so severe, e.g. a prolonged period of economic malaise, that the only solution is to be rescued by a foreign country. This would naturally come with a concomitant loss of independence. This election result is totally congruent with my view of Singapore’s cloudy long-term prospects.
Consider this: The PAP didn’t even bother to address the broad issues in much of their campaign. They stuck to local improvements combined with mud-slinging at the opposition. Yet, it was enough to satisfy voters and win a landslide. They knew they weren’t facing sophisticated voters.
Characteristics of the electorate:
- very comfortable with the notion of a paternalistic state;
- unconcerned by the state resorting to repressive measures, even if it means loss of civil liberties;
- uninterested in details of how problems should be tackled, instead trusting of broad assurances that they will be tackled;
- unmoved by appeals for check and balance (do not see much value in it).
This is a sign of a very short-termist — and if you wish to be uncharitable, intellectually lazy — electorate.
Implication:
Looking at the long term, this result kind of confirms what I have long felt to be Singapore’s future: A lengthy period of stasis supported by a complacent electorate, increasingly relying on outmoded models of governance, gradually losing vitality. The failure to accommodate incremental change or build political safety nets will mean that when scandal and political crisis hits, as it surely will, the tumble will be very severe. I have long entertained the possibility that the tumble will be so severe, e.g. a prolonged period of economic malaise, that the only solution is to be rescued by a foreign country. This would naturally come with a concomitant loss of independence. This election result is totally congruent with my view of Singapore’s cloudy long-term prospects.
