Multiracialism Engineered: The Limits of Electoral and Spatial Integration in Singapore

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

6-2007

Abstract

This paper examines Singapore's innovations in electoral and spatial integration. In examining the Group Representation Constituency and the Ethnic Integration Policy, a critique is made of the official discourse that multiracialism is internalized and entrenched in Singapore's political psyche and electoral process. While the electoral and spatial integration policies are driven by the objective of enhancing multiracialism, their actual workings do not adequately advance the development of norms and values that would be truly supportive of the need for a multiracial legislature and an abiding commitment to multiracialism. The layering of the electoral system with other political objectives, such as administrative decentralization and ensuring the continued dominance of the ruling party, has undermined the effectiveness of electoral and spatial integration.

Discipline

Asian Studies | Law and Politics | Race and Ethnicity | Religion Law

Publication

The Ethnopolitics of Elections

Editor

Bieber, Florian; Wolff, Stefan

First Page

413

Last Page

428

ISBN

9780415400473

Identifier

10.1080/17449050500348659

Publisher

Routledge

City or Country

London

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1080/17449050500348659

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