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Articles 1 - 18 of 18
Full-Text Articles in Political Science
The Pandemic As Political Opportunity: Jokowi’S Indonesia In The Time Of Covid-19, Charlotte Setijadi
The Pandemic As Political Opportunity: Jokowi’S Indonesia In The Time Of Covid-19, Charlotte Setijadi
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In mid-2021, the Delta strain of the Covid-19 virus caused a second wave of transmissions and deaths in Indonesia at a scale much greater than what was seen in 2020. In this paper, I examine what the Indonesian government’s handling of the Covid crisis in 2021 reveals about the priorities of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), as well as his political agenda and attitude towards the country’s democracy, as he strives to cement his legacy. I argue that, while devastating, the Covid-19 pandemic has given Jokowi the opportunity to push through long-planned economic and political reforms. Furthermore, I contend that, under …
Barking Without Biting: Understanding Chinese Media Campaigns During Foreign Policy Disputes, Frances Yaping Wang
Barking Without Biting: Understanding Chinese Media Campaigns During Foreign Policy Disputes, Frances Yaping Wang
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
What motivates Chinese media campaigns during foreign policy disputes and how are they carried out? “Influence campaigns” are often recognized as highly pertinent to international security, yet they remain understudied. This paper develops and tests a theory that explains these media campaigns as strategic actions to align domestic public opinion when it deviates from the state’s preferred foreign policy, exploiting the media’s mobilization or pacification effect. These divergent media effects correspond to two types of media campaigns respectively – the mobilization campaigns and the pacification campaigns. The pacification campaigns are particularly important because they indicate that hawkish rhetoric may counterintuitively …
Decree Power In Parliamentary Systems: Theory And Evidence From India, Madhav Shrihari Aney, Shubhankar Dam
Decree Power In Parliamentary Systems: Theory And Evidence From India, Madhav Shrihari Aney, Shubhankar Dam
Research Collection School Of Economics
Decree powers are common to presidential systems; they are rarely found in parliamentary ones. We analyze decree powers in one such rare setting: India. We show that bicameral minority governments in India systematically use ordinances to circumvent parliament and prosecute their legislative agendas. They promulgate more ordinances, enact less legislation, and often repromulgate lapsed ordinances. These patterns suggest that, with bicameral minority governments, the locus of lawmaking shifts to the executive branch. While both majority and minority governments invoke ordinances, the latter do so systematically to get around their parliamentary deficit. In the hands of minority governments, then, the mechanism …
Why 9/11 Matters To Singapore, Tan K. B. Eugene
Why 9/11 Matters To Singapore, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan discussed why 9/11 matters to Singapore. He opined that when it comes to countering the terrorist threat, civil society has an important role to play in strengthening inter-faith engagement and understanding.
When Running For Office Runs In The Family: Horizontal Dynasties, Policy And Development In The Philippines, Dean C. Dulay
When Running For Office Runs In The Family: Horizontal Dynasties, Policy And Development In The Philippines, Dean C. Dulay
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Political dynasties exist in practically every variant of democracy, but take different forms in different places. Yet the types of dynastic structures have remained unexplored. We argue that horizontal dynasties—multiple members from the same political family holding different political offices concurrently— affect policymaking by replacing potential political rivals, who may oppose an incumbent’s policy choices, with a member of the family. But in developing countries, the policy change that accrues from dynastic status may not lead to higher levels of economic development. We test this argument’s implications in the Philippines. Employing a close elections regression discontinuity design on a sample …
First Among Equals: The First Place Effect And Political Promotion In Multi-Member Plurality Elections, Dean C. Dulay, Laurence Go
First Among Equals: The First Place Effect And Political Promotion In Multi-Member Plurality Elections, Dean C. Dulay, Laurence Go
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
We study the impact of rank-based decision-making in a multi-member plurality electoral system by examining the decisions of Philippine legislative councilors to run for and win higher office. By focusing on multi-member plurality elections, we identify the effect of rank amongst politicians that hold the same office and received a similar number of votes. To identify the causal effect of rank, we conduct a close-elections RD at the village, municipality, and province levels. Our main result is the first place effect: incumbent first placers are 5–9% (1–4%) more likely to run (win) in future elections than incumbent second placers. …
One Year On Since Ge2020: Thinking Afresh For The Post-Covid Era, Tan K. B. Eugene
One Year On Since Ge2020: Thinking Afresh For The Post-Covid Era, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan opined that even as political competition in Singapore sharpens, a deeper understanding and broader consensus must develop on critical issues. He believes that remaking Singapore to be a fairer, more just, and compassionate society in a post-Covid world is a key responsibility for Parliament.
One Year On Since Ge2020: Thinking Afresh For The Post-Covid Era, Tan K. B. Eugene
One Year On Since Ge2020: Thinking Afresh For The Post-Covid Era, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
In this commentary, the author opined that even as political competition in Singapore sharpens, a deeper understanding and broader consensus must develop on critical issues. He believes that remaking Singapore to be a fairer, more just, and compassionate society in a post-Covid world is a key responsibility for Parliament.
Circuits Broken, Remade, And Newly Forged: Tracing Southeast Asia's Foreign Relations After The Vietnam War, Wen-Qing Ngoei
Circuits Broken, Remade, And Newly Forged: Tracing Southeast Asia's Foreign Relations After The Vietnam War, Wen-Qing Ngoei
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This article (2021) in Diplomatic History's pandemic feature examines how the principles and consequences of Singapore's "circuit breaker" policy offers a conceptual framework for studying the history of Southeast Asia's foreign relations in the 1970s to 1990s. With this approach, the essay considers how a study of Southeast Asia's culture-makers (artists, writers, dramatists), their works and transnational circuits, may open a productive inquiry into a diverse array of regionalisms that compete and complement ASEAN.
Demanding Images: Democracy, Mediation, And The Image-Event In Indonesia By Karen Strassler, Colm A. Fox
Demanding Images: Democracy, Mediation, And The Image-Event In Indonesia By Karen Strassler, Colm A. Fox
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Karen Strassler takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride through Indonesia’s turbulent democratic developments of recent years—including stages of disappointment, fear, and tragedy, but also periods of joy, hilarity, and hope. To set the scene, the book opens with a photo-essay montage of full-colour images
The Ccp At 100: Can It Lead China To Be The Wave Of The Future?, Eugene K. B. Tan
The Ccp At 100: Can It Lead China To Be The Wave Of The Future?, Eugene K. B. Tan
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
The author discussed about the foremost geopolitical challenge China is facing as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) marks its centenary on July 1. He pointed out that bilateral ties between US and China are patently lacking in trust, but believes both can find convergence and achieve mutual respect if determined efforts are channelled towards policies, institutions, norms, and cooperation that seek to incrementally enhance security and cooperation for both countries even as they robustly engage each other on the issues.
The United States And The "Chinese Problem" Of Southeast Asia, Wen-Qing Ngoei
The United States And The "Chinese Problem" Of Southeast Asia, Wen-Qing Ngoei
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
This essay examines how US Cold War policy toward all of Southeast Asia arose from American suspicions that the region's Chinese diaspora would align itself with the Chinese communists against the west. In so doing, it explores how US distrust of the Chinese diaspora fell in step with a longer imperialist tradition practised not only by the European powers for centuries, but also the Japanese Empire during its brief ascendancy during World War Two. Additionally, the essay proposes that to move beyond the bilateral studies that dominate the histories of US-Southeast Asian relations to view the region as whole, it …
What A Delayed Political Succession Means For Singapore, Tan K. B. Eugene
What A Delayed Political Succession Means For Singapore, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan discussed the implications of what a delayed political succession might mean for Singapore. He also explained how the search for Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat's successor presents a new test for Singapore’s leaders, and highlighted the key focus for leadership renewal amid the pandemic.
What The Cabinet Reshuffle Signals, Tan K. B. Eugene
What The Cabinet Reshuffle Signals, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan opined that the “Cabinet reshuffle announcement was not intended to shed any light on which fourth-generation (4G) leader would be the prime minister-in-waiting," but it “effectively confirms ministers Chan Chun Sing, Ong Ye Kung, and Lawrence Wong as the main contenders to be the 4G prime minister”. He discussed what the Cabinet reshuffle signals and explained why the 4G leadership needs more time to come to a consensus on who their new leader would be.
Strong, Cohesive Leadership Must Emerge From Cabinet Rejig, Tan K. B. Eugene
Strong, Cohesive Leadership Must Emerge From Cabinet Rejig, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan opined that “a total of 13 ministries having new ministers in two Cabinet reshuffles within a span of nine months is significant” and “these significant moves underscore not only the urgency of leadership renewal and succession, but also the need for certainty and confidence as Singapore transitions to the 4G leadership which will coincide with the post-Covid era”. He highlighted the need for a strong, cohesive leadership to emerge from the Cabinet reshuffle amid these exceptional times, as he believes that “a leadership that can galvanise the people will enable …
Farmers In Singapore? Collective Action Under Adverse Circumstances, Yu Fong Ho, John A. Donaldson
Farmers In Singapore? Collective Action Under Adverse Circumstances, Yu Fong Ho, John A. Donaldson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
How can individuals with contrasting interests in a declining industry, at odds with the country’s identity, and facing an illiberal and sceptical government, band together to promote collective goals? This article addresses this question by examining Singapore’s Kranji Countryside Association, one of Singapore’s few civil society organisations to focus on community organising. To Association members, the material and time costs of organising were high, the odds of success were low and the material rewards of success were modest. The article evaluates two views that purport to explain collective action: the rational choice approach that focuses on selective incentives and the …
Bersih And Democracy In Malaysia, Ying Hooi Khoo
Bersih And Democracy In Malaysia, Ying Hooi Khoo
Perspectives@SMU
The social movement’s eight demands might not all be met but its role goes beyond the articulated list
Important Not To Let Hsr Termination Hobble Further Cooperation, Tan K. B. Eugene
Important Not To Let Hsr Termination Hobble Further Cooperation, Tan K. B. Eugene
Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law
Strong people-to-people ties can help temper political histrionics, moderate negative impact on political ties. The tantalising prospect of being able to leave Singapore and arrive in Kuala Lumpur in just 90 minutes remains a pipe dream after the High Speed Rail (HSR) agreement was terminated last Friday, along with what could have been an important confidence booster to bilateral ties between Singapore and Malaysia.