>Date: Fri, 22 Dec 95 12:13:48 UT >From: "Christopher LINGLE" SINGAPORE'S AUTHORITARIAN CAPITALISM: Asian Values, Free Market Illusions, and Political Dependency by Christopher Lingle Unlike communist devotees who foresaw the "withering of the state" or Western thinkers who hail the retreat of the welfare state, Singapore's PAP regime sees itself as a permanent fixture. Despite its grip on all organs of political power, the record clearly shows a continual decline in its margins of victory at the polls. Increasingly, voters indicate that material gains are not adequate compensation for the nanny-state nagging of an arrogant political leadership. To shore up flagging electoral fortunes, the regime's most prominent spokespersons seek to deflect moves towards multi-party democracy. Their principal vehicle has been to promote a contrived set of "Asian values" as the underpinning of the country's economic success. The PAP's commitment to "development before rights" remains unchallenged at home due to obsessive control over the media and vigorous suppression of dissent. A peculiar aspect of Singaporean politics is the system of phobocracy (rule by fear) where loyalty to the regime is imposed by intimidation. From a perspective gained from his service as a Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore, Dr. Lingle applies "authoritarian capitalism" as a description of Singapore's regime. This hybrid combines selective economic freedoms and private property rights with strict control over political life. In such a system, political loyalty replaces the efficient use of resources as the determinant of success while sycophantic business relations replace the growth-inducing actions of true entrepreneurs. Singapore's Authoritarian Capitalism questions the sustainability of this "miracle" economy due to internal contractions arising from imposed institutional arrangements. By applying this analysis to other East Asian economies, it appears that the "Pacific Century" may be stillborn. The author is an economist and Visiting Scholar at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. THE LOCKE INSTITUTE, Fairfax, Virginia and SIROCCO, S.A., Barcelona, Spain - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Orders may be placed by mail, fax or via the internet by contacting: The Locke Institute 4084 University Drive Fairfax, VA 22030 USA Telephone 703/934-6960 Fax 703/352-7530 e-mail: crowley@off1.gmu.edu website http://www.his.com/~chyden/locke $20.00 includes postage and handling within the USA. International orders please add $5.00. ISBN 84-85809-52-1; 169 pages + xxii. Paperback.