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SUSS POL 103e Study Unit 2 (Political Parties and the Bureaucracy in …
SUSS POL 103e Study Unit 2
State and civil service
State composition
The state is formed by a pyramid of authority – headed by the Executive which controls the Police, Administration and Military
Each of these entities plays an important role in exercising
state sovereignty
Weiss's 'developmental' state
When states are able to
intervene strongly in the economy and society
to precipitate the transformation of a
developing state
(like Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s)
to a developed one
today, they are classified as a ‘developmental state’. (i.e. does not heavily rely on free-market, market forces)
What is a developmental state
a developmental state refers to
countries whose governments actively intervene in domestic economic processes
rather than relying on free market forces to precipitate socio-political and economic development.
Developmental states are
known to be highly economically successful
, with a capacity to compete regionally and internationally, on par with already industrialised economies
Feature: bureacracy
One of the major features of a development state is the “power, continuity and autonomy of elite bureaucrats”,
Political and bureaucratic elites have some independence from groups in society so that they can steer development
2. Embedded Autonomy of Bureaucracy
:
A bureaucracy that has sufficient discretionary powers but still embedded as part of the State
1. Bureaucratic Power:
Civil service that is powerful, independent (from the gov), professionally competent, merit-based appointment
Able to collaborate with other arms of state and non-political actors to help state reach developmental goals
State capacity and bureaucracy
Grindle’s typology of state capacity which highlights the importance of the bureaucracy and administration in helping the state achieve its developmental goals
Includes
Technical Capacity:
possessing and
utilising expertise to formulate policies
Administrative Capacity:
enforcement, implementation and delivery of policies
Institutional Capacity
set and formulate rules that govern economic and political interactions
Political capacity
effective and legitimate channels to address demand, resolution, representation, political participation.
Core capacities of capable states
Formulate goals
ability to formulate policy goals and evolve strategies for implementing them
influence group behaviours
ability to alter the behaviour of important domestic groups in order to further its policies
ability to restructure its domestic government
Singapore Civil service
Street-Level Bureaucrats in Singapore
Street-level bureaucrats are the
frontline
workers or policy implementers in government agencies such as the health service, schools or police service
Have regular and
direct interaction
with citizens, or the recipients of government services;
Have the
power to exercise a degree of discretion
over the services, benefits and sanctions received by those recipients
Decisions and actions of street-level bureaucrats, actually ‘become’, or represent, the policies of the government agencies they work for
Features of Singapore Civil Service
Lack of obstacles to reforms and policy implementation
The PAP-led government sought to
create an organisational culture that would inculcate suitable values in the civil servants
; these attitudinal administrative reforms would
ensure
that there would be
little obstacles
to Singapore’s developmental goals
For instance, the Political Study Centre was formed in 1959 and required senior civil servants to attend lectures by political leaders
Co-operation with Statutory Boards
Statutory boards are semi-independent agencies that specialise in carrying out specific plans and policies of each Ministry (i.e. HDB)
Civil services focused on law and order, goods and services provision whereas Stat boards focus on national development.
Intolerance for corruption
The PAP-led government introduced the Prevention of Corruption Act in 1960, empowering the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) to enforce the Act impartially
The
CPIB is tasked with
safeguarding the integrity of the public sector, is given
regulatory oversight
of public officers, and is to
report any malpractice
Policy Diffusion and Best Practices
The Singapore Civil Service has
engaged in such sharing of best practices
and is also known
to adapt
such solutions to the local context
This is often done through regional dialogues and engagemt session
Recruitment - Competition with the private sector
examples of how the public service attracts and retains talent include
PSC Scholarships
–
scholars are expected to serve a bond
with the Singapore Civil Service following their graduation
Competitive
remuneration and benefits schemes
– To attract and retain individuals in the Singapore Civil Service, the public sector
reviews salaries
of civil servants to ensure that they are competitive with the private sector as well as allowances in the mid-year and the year-end; the Singapore Civil Service is also known for
welfare / subsidy schemes
, especially in healthcare as well as in skills upgrading in the form of undergraduate and post-graduate scholarships and training programmes.
Civil service recruitment
to ensure that the best talent is recruited and retained in the Singapore Civil Service, two bodies –
Public Service Commission
(PSC) and
Public Service Division
(PSD) –
were established in 1951 and 1983 respectively
Public service commission (PSC)
The Public Service Commission was established in January 1951 with the specific intention
to localise the public service
as it was believed that Singapore would only be able to transition from a colony to effective self-government if the public service was suited to local conditions and was staffed by Singaporeans
was modelled after the United Kingdom’s Civil Service and it aimed to “keep politics out”
PSC's Meritocratic standards
PSC was seen as the “gate-keeper” of the Singapore civil service as it was tasked with ensuring that
it attracted only the most qualified candidates
PSC’s criterion for recruiting, retaining and promotion of civil servants were all
based on meritocracy, integrity and impartiality.
Public Service Division
(PSD)
The PSD was created to “formulate and
review personnel policies
in the Singapore Civil Service and to ensure that these policies (were) implemented consistently in the various ministries
The PSD, as it stands today, sees itself as the “steward” of the Singapore Civil Service, wherein it
oversees its “health, wellbeing, performance, motivations and ethos”
of civil servants
Serving the public
An examination of the values of the Singapore Public Service highlights three key values: Integrity, Service and Excellence all of which are public oreinted
Macho-meritocracy
refers to the
extreme emphasis on merit and achievements
in the appointment of both civil servants and politicians
Innovation
The Singapore Civil Service adopted the best practices of private administration to take a “market-driven approach to administrative reforms”
Composition
The Singapore Civil Service comprises the
Prime Minister’s Office and 15 Ministries
civil servants assigned to each of these Ministries work for the Singapore government, carrying out public policyrelated activities to “
ensure the attainment of national development goals
”
Effectiveness of the Singapore Civil Service
Re-employment
One of the approaches the public sector has adopted includes the
re-employment of retired civil servants
(aged 62 and above) which may contribute in keeping employment numbers stable as well as continue to
tap on the expertise
of these senior and experienced civil servant
A representative civil service
A representative civil service is one that is impartial and non-partisan and does not simply do the bidding of the political elites
Instead, it is able to
develop
its organisational
effectiveness through
various means including through
consultation with citizens
Effective mass communication
Yet another example includes the Singapore Civil Service’s move to a “digital government” by
leveraging technology and data to deliver service
swiftly and efficiently on mobile platforms
GOVTECH
Singapore government has recently launched GovTech, a new initiative that will “lend engineering support to smart nation projects and refresh old e-government services”
GovTech aims to focus on six key areas including
“application development
data science
government infrastructure
geospatial technology
cybersecurity
smart sensors
Seeks to
improve service delivery
and ease of connectivity that will eventually reduce red-tape and time-consuming procedures-
Civil service
The civil service is the
administrative arm of the state
and it is
concerned with
the “efficiency, implementation, planning, and optimisation of the
policy process
”
Notably, the civil service, while employed and part of the government, is
meant to be de-politicised and neutral
It is not supposed to be concerned with political issues such as ideology or be influenced by political parties or politicians – it is to
remain non-partisan
Administrative capacity
administrative capacity, according to Grindle, refers to the
effective administration of basic physical and social infrastructure
and the ability of the state to perform basic administrative
functions essential to both economic development
and
social welfare
via delivery of public goods (such as public health and education), tax revenue and tax collection,
and overseeing the basic day-to-day functions of the state
Public VS Private administration
Public Administration
High clarity of
responsibility and accountability
to the public
Non-financial incentives and
evaluations necessary
to motivate and evaluate public administration staff
Provides goods and services such as public infrastructure that may not be efficiently provided by private sector
High levels of bureaucratic red-tape in the form of rules, regulations, procedures, so as to remain
accountable to the public
; may impede efficiency
Private administration
Goods and services are provided according to the law of demand and supply, mostly with
profit maximisation as the end goal
Low public scrutiny
(in comparison to public sector)
Profit margins
are one of the effective criterion to
measure and evaluate success
Decision-making processes more streamlined
as efficiency and profit-maximisation are of primary concern
Political Parties and the Bureaucracy in
Singapore
What are Political Parties
political parties as interest groups that
attempt to capture political power
by placing their members in governmental office
I.e. Political parties compete to attain political leadership.
Aim
Political parties are expected to
ensure that citizen interests are reflected in public policy
as they “represent, articulate and champion the interests and causes of its political membership”
Functions
They formulate public policy,
represent citizens,
collate and provide information to citizens,
function as a channel of communication between the citizens and the political elite as well as recruit more political elite.
Party Systems
They are usually classified according to the number and size of political parties and the interactions among the parties in the governing process
Often, the
type of party system will influence how voters choose
their leaders and how public policy is made.
Typologies Party Systems
typologies and classifications
help us understand
processes, institutions and actor’s behaviour in political systems
more clearly
Non-partisan democracy or No-Party System
No official political party exists in the political system
Political parties
are usually
prohibited
to
prevent
organised bases of
opposition to government rule
or justified on the basis that party loyalty divides and fragments a nation
For example: Saudi Arabia (Totalatarian)
Single-party system or One-Party system
Only one political party is legally allowed
to hold power; this political party is controlled and protected by the government
Any other political party
that opposes the official, ruling political party is
viewed as disloyal
, seditious and stirring up rebellion (i.e., even if other political parties are allowed to exist, they must conform to the political vision of the ruling political party)
For example: China, Cuba, and North Korea (Authoritarian)
One-party dominant system or Dominant Party system
Multiple political parties may be legally
allowed to function
but
the same (often, largest and most powerful) political party repeatedly captures sufficient votes and seats to allow it to form government (i.e.,
only one party in particular has a realistic chance of gaining political power
)
Dominant parties often continuously capture power
because they
use various means to
prevent opposition parties from coming into power
or
the dominant party enjoys longrunning popularity
because of a proven track record
, use of patronage systems to its advantage, a divided or inefficient opposition and so on
For example: Cameroon and South Africa
Two-party system
Multiple political parties may be legally allowed to function but
only two political parties
(often the largest and most powerful among the various parties)
have a realistic chance of gaining political power
• Two party systems
can also lead to a coalitiongovernment
in the event that neither party wins a legislative majority
For example: United States of America and United Kingdom
Multi-party system
More than two parties have a realistic chance to win
enough votes and seats to hold power
In many cases, two or more political parties **may
need to enter a coalition to form government**
Sometimes parties of a similar ideological orientation group together to form a bloc;
blocs of parties then compete against each other during elections
For example: France, The Netherlands, and Switzerland
The Party System in Singapore
Singapore is a very clear example of the
one-party dominant system
, with the PAP being the only political party with a realistic chance of capturing votes and seats to form an almost unchallenged government.
The Dominance of the PAP and its Impact on Singapore’s Political System
Role in independance
Cohesiveness
Centralisation of power
Para-political org
Oppositin weaknesses
A. The Role of the PAP in the History of Independent Singapore
Split between communits memebrs and PAP
Within the PAP itself, a deep fault line was developing between the English-educated moderates led by former PM Lee Kuan Yew and the pro-Communists who wanted to take over the leadership of the PAP’s executive committee in 1957.
led to a split of the PAP in 1961, which created Barisan Sosialis, the first opposition party to the PAP
Although the Barisan Sosialis managed to win 13 seats in the 1963 elections, the PAP emerged a clear winner with a two-thirds majority.
Lesson learnt
The lesson learnt by the PAP in this instance was two-fold:
Firstly, opposing forces within the party caused the PAP to ensure that it subsequently led a
tight ship of its cadres and members
.
Secondly, mobilisation of the
grassroots was seen as crucial to the success of the PAP
– for that to happen, the PAP needed to
ensure that it was not isolated
or distant from the electorate; hence the need for para-political organisations which remain a core feature of the polity even today.
The PAP also needed to ensure that
mobilisation and the support
it is able to garner from the electorate does not stem just from control by the PAP, but also from
consistent and reliable economic and socio-political performance.
These, in turn, have fuelled much of the PAP’s approach to shaping the political landscape in Singapore, carving out an position of dominance for itself.
B. PAP: A Cohesive Party in a Parliamentary System
As mentioned earlier,
Westminster
models of governments typically
feature a majoritarian government.
In majoritarian systems, the
winning political party often
is awarded far
more parliamentary seats than their vote-share
, deliberately manufacturing a majority in parliament to allow the winning political party to govern effectively and decisively without any constraints.
it also ensures a
high clarity of responsibility
– voters are very clearly able to judge the ruling party’s activities and performance during its tenure as government and will either reward or punish it accordingly in the subsequent elections by either voting the ruling party back into power, or voting for an alternative (opposition) political party.
In a
parliamentary system
, the
government often holds the majority in the legislature
and is seen to have the monopoly on agenda setting power.
PAP's sucess
The
PAP’s seat-share has not dropped below 70%
in the last five decades – a clear indicator that its secular stance, with an emphasis on economic performance, multi-ethnicity, meritocracy, and track record of forming and sustaining an accountable government, has led to repeated success at the ballot boxes
Core values
of the party itself is another indicator of the blurring of the lines between the PAP and the Singapore government
PAP CORE VALUES
honesty
referring to incorruptibility, transparency, integrity;
an emphasis on
multi-racialism
and a Singaporean Singapore, which posits that all races are treated with equality as enshrined in the Constitution, that all cultures are preserved and racial harmony is maintained (Chua B. , Taking Group Rights Seriously: Multiracialism in Singapore, 2005);
meritocracy
which has been a key ideology that has been keenly applied to the education, civil service, armed forces sectors and government-linked companies (Mauzy & Milne, 2002); a
self-reliance
, where the Singapore government has been extremely vigilant in ensuring that the Singaporean citizen does not develop a crutch-mentality that welfare states tend to generate. These values are echoed in both the core values of the PAP and often in government speeches such as National Day Rallies
C. Centralisation of Power within the PAP
the PAP government really should be understood as the government led by the political party, PAP, and not the party apparatus per se
Power in the PAP is concentrated in
the hands of 18 individuals (as of Jan 2017) who form
the Central Executive Committee
(CEC). The most powerful position in the CEC is that of the Secretary-General, currently held by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Core features of the CEC include ensuring ethnic minority representation as well as representation of women
1. The cadre system
modelled on the system for electing the Pope The cadre system instituted by the PAP is
another key feature
of power dynamics within the party.
Cadre system to
prevent fragmentation and subsequent hostile takeover
of the party by other factions such as the pro-Communist faction
the process of cadres is
tightly-controlled
2. Party branch
Chaired by the Member of Parliament (MP)
for that constituency, the party branches and their members assist in the
management of grassroots
activities;
additionally, during election campaigns, they
assist MPs
in the constituency walkabouts or the weekly meet-the-people sessions, both of which help
keep the political party connected to the citizens.
3. Political recruitment
Often, PAP’s candidates do not come primarily from PAP groups like Young PAP, but are welleducated, prolific individuals in their own respective fields prior to joining the PAP.
Technocracy.
D. Para-Political Organisations In Singapore
The PAPs uses governmental para-political organisations to carry out many activities.
Para-political organisations can be understood as “mass-based institutions that function to provide the organisational framework by which the
government mobilises mass support
provide
avenues for citizens to participate in politics
Types of Para-Political Organisations In Singapore
People’s Association
Established in 1960 as the national grassroots organisation mission: to promote racial harmony and social cohesion and to
act as a bridge between the government and citizens
via social schemes
Chaired by the Prime Minister with five other Cabinet Ministers sitting on the Board of Management
Community Clubs come under the aegis of the PA.
Community Centres / Community Clubs
To carry out the dual function of
promoting racial harmony and social cohesion
, 28 Community Centres (now called Community Clubs) were formally established in 1960 under the PA
CCs
connect residents and the government
by providing information about government initiatives and policies, and collecting residents’ feedback on national concerns and policies
Citizen’s Consultative Committees
In 1965, plans to establish a CCC in every constituency was mooted to:
(1) help
counter the propaganda
spread by the pro-Communist forces and
(2)
facilitate communication
between the government and the citizens
CCCs now assist the PA’s mission by
planning and leading major grassroots activities
within each constituency
organising community
forums and dialogue sessions with government
representatives to channel feedback to government
organising
outreach programmes
to foster social cohesion
implementing and administering
financial assistance
programmes to the underprivileged
Residents’ Committees
RCs were introduced in 1978 by the government to
promote neighbourliness
, racial harmony and community cohesiveness amongst residents in each of the constituencies
they are
run by residents
for residents within each residential estate -
better suited to promoting community spirit
Town Councils
TCs were formed in 1989 to
empower elected Members of Parliament and residents
to
manage their own estates;
currently there are 16 TCs in Singapore
Putting MPs in charge of the TCs also
shifted more responsibility to the citizens
– they would have to make informed choices when voting for their MPs as the MPs would now directly affect their daily lives, depending on how they administered the TCs
Responsible for residential estate management (such as cleanliness, sanitation, water services, breakdowns)
Commonality
These para-political organisations have three things in common
They are a
bridge between the government and the citizens
and function as a means for elected representatives and citizens to interact
perform a social function by attempting to increase
social cohesion
among residents in the various constituencies; and
keeps party activism in check
– these activities appear less political in nature and cater to social development needs instead.
Weakness of Opposition Bloc
in Singapore opposition parties themselves may be
obstructed and prevented
from performing the abovementioned functions, particularly
in one-party dominant systems.
-Voters tended to
vote more pragmatically
by voting for the political party were consistently able to “deliver
Three key functions
of the opposition party
to act as oversight or
check and balance
against the incumbent party
to engage in
democratic dialogue
convert demands into
policy alternatives
Key weakness includes:
leadership and ideology of opposition parties/ recruiment
intra- and inter-party disunity,
organisational strategy and
funds of opposition parties
Political recruitment
Attracting quality candidates is a problem for the opposition bloc largely because of the
co-optation of top civil servants into the ruling party
but even when they do manage to,
candidates tend to be inclined towards the more well-known political parties
who appear to be stronger contenders against the ruling parties – “fringe opposition parties find it difficult to recruit any kind of membership
SocioEconomical performance
The economic
prosperity
that the
PAP
government has been able to deliver to the Singaporean electorate, on on which voters tend to base their votes in the first place,
blunts the demand for an alternative rule,
Even when pressed for alternative policy programmes, the
opposition bloc is often unable to provide credible alternative
programmes to “compete with the PAP government’s comprehensive array of policies”
Leadership
in-fighting within the opposition parties seems to pose some challenges.
One recent example includes the leadership tussle for the top post of Secretary-General in the Worker’s Party (WP) in May 2016 between two top members, incumbent Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang and Chen Show Mao, amid much criticism over the former’s leadership style at the WP.
Assistant Secretary-General which was awarded to another popular WP member, Pritam Singh, suggests that the party may be fragmented
Economical factors
Another stumbling block for the opposition parties in Singapore is the
high cost of elections
. In GE2011, the election deposit per candidate stood at S$16,000 and dropped marginally to S$14,500 in GE2015
Failing to secure the electoral threshold of a minimum of 12.5% of votes will see
candidates forfeiting their election deposits.
raising such large sums of money in itself can prove to be a
major financial strain on the opposition parties
. In contrast, the PAP has an assured amount of approximately S$50,000 per month that goes towards party activity funds.