- Joined
- Aug 6, 2008
- Messages
- 6,684
- Points
- 113
...In Greece, democratic "disturbances" are common, ranging from general strikes to public demonstrations. The current riots, however are the worst that Greece has witnessed in decades. Contemplating the trail of damage in this birthplace of democarcy, I asked myself the question that I had always dismissed contemptuously, as I did in my 2007 book, Renaissance Singapore?: Could more democracy for Singapore actually lead to chaos, violence and destruction?
We tend to think in terms of an uncompromising trade-off between democracy and personal freedoms on the one hand, and socio-political stability and economic success on the other. Our official history memorialises the racial riots, radical movements and militant trade unions of the 1950s to 1970s, cultivating a mindset rooted in a deep sense of vulnerability and danger.
This same history emphasises Singapore's smallness and lack of resources, justifying meritocracy as the most effective way to allocate scarce talent especially for public administration and political leadership. Last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's argument against an unproductively adversial two-party system for Singapore was the most recent version of similar arguments advanced by the Government that Singapore does not have enough talent to waste on political competition. Meritocracy, according to this view, is a necessary alternative to the checks and balances of liberal democracy.
Also last year, there was a swell of public interest in the question of meritocracy. I argued in my article "Meritocracy and Elitism in a Global City" in International Political Science Review that Singapore's practice of meritocracy should not ignore structural inequalities that can systematically make some people more likely to succeed than others.
If giving people equal opportunities is eclipsed by a competitive and self-absorbed obsession with winning and compensation, then our meritocracy will degenerate into elitism, which can erode the cohesion of a society that is already diversifying in complicated ways.
The riots in Athens are not the result of too much democracy, but of a democracy unable to address the concerns of segments of society that have become increasingly marginalised and silenced. To prevent this from happening to Singapore, every citizen should be given a stake in matters of public importance and equal rights to be heard, without fear.
"Isegoria" is the ancient Greek word that denotes the equal right to be heard. If a democracy limits "isegoria", the silenced voices may find less legitimate and even violent avenues for mass political action. A more expansive democracy for Singapore will not increase the likehood of chaos, violence and destruction. But an elitist and unresponsive democracy that takes only some voices seriously and systematically fails to include others may one day do so.
Democracy is more than just a consultative mechanism for public policy input. It needs to evolve into an incluisve set of norms that facilitate the genuine particpation of any well-meaning citizen at any appropriate stage of the policy cycle - problem identification, information gathering, policy formulation, selection, implemenation and evaluation.
The good thing about being small and highly wired is Singapore can elicit and receive votes and views from its citizens through enhanced use of interactive media technologies. This, in fact, is where Singapore can become a global leader in harnessing and developing innovative, practical technologies for democracy.
Democracy, meanwhile, has to be learnt by doing and improved by practice. It can also be nurtured in the classroom. My students and I interact within democratic learning spaces where open-ended discussion and critical debate take the place of lectures and instructions.
In some of my courses, students are placed on semester-long attachments to civil society organisations, where they experience the life of organised activism while subjecting this experience to theoretical critique. In turn, theories and case studies discussed in the classroom are critiqued through real-life experiences.
I have also tried to nurture other skills, like the ability to advance well-supported arguments; to communicate in clear, creative and vivid ways; to give and receive criticism constructively; and to be guided by complex moral ethical compasses. In these small ways, I hope to help build personal capacities for a more sustainable democratic culture in Singapore.
We tend to think in terms of an uncompromising trade-off between democracy and personal freedoms on the one hand, and socio-political stability and economic success on the other. Our official history memorialises the racial riots, radical movements and militant trade unions of the 1950s to 1970s, cultivating a mindset rooted in a deep sense of vulnerability and danger.
This same history emphasises Singapore's smallness and lack of resources, justifying meritocracy as the most effective way to allocate scarce talent especially for public administration and political leadership. Last year, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's argument against an unproductively adversial two-party system for Singapore was the most recent version of similar arguments advanced by the Government that Singapore does not have enough talent to waste on political competition. Meritocracy, according to this view, is a necessary alternative to the checks and balances of liberal democracy.
Also last year, there was a swell of public interest in the question of meritocracy. I argued in my article "Meritocracy and Elitism in a Global City" in International Political Science Review that Singapore's practice of meritocracy should not ignore structural inequalities that can systematically make some people more likely to succeed than others.
If giving people equal opportunities is eclipsed by a competitive and self-absorbed obsession with winning and compensation, then our meritocracy will degenerate into elitism, which can erode the cohesion of a society that is already diversifying in complicated ways.
The riots in Athens are not the result of too much democracy, but of a democracy unable to address the concerns of segments of society that have become increasingly marginalised and silenced. To prevent this from happening to Singapore, every citizen should be given a stake in matters of public importance and equal rights to be heard, without fear.
"Isegoria" is the ancient Greek word that denotes the equal right to be heard. If a democracy limits "isegoria", the silenced voices may find less legitimate and even violent avenues for mass political action. A more expansive democracy for Singapore will not increase the likehood of chaos, violence and destruction. But an elitist and unresponsive democracy that takes only some voices seriously and systematically fails to include others may one day do so.
Democracy is more than just a consultative mechanism for public policy input. It needs to evolve into an incluisve set of norms that facilitate the genuine particpation of any well-meaning citizen at any appropriate stage of the policy cycle - problem identification, information gathering, policy formulation, selection, implemenation and evaluation.
The good thing about being small and highly wired is Singapore can elicit and receive votes and views from its citizens through enhanced use of interactive media technologies. This, in fact, is where Singapore can become a global leader in harnessing and developing innovative, practical technologies for democracy.
Democracy, meanwhile, has to be learnt by doing and improved by practice. It can also be nurtured in the classroom. My students and I interact within democratic learning spaces where open-ended discussion and critical debate take the place of lectures and instructions.
In some of my courses, students are placed on semester-long attachments to civil society organisations, where they experience the life of organised activism while subjecting this experience to theoretical critique. In turn, theories and case studies discussed in the classroom are critiqued through real-life experiences.
I have also tried to nurture other skills, like the ability to advance well-supported arguments; to communicate in clear, creative and vivid ways; to give and receive criticism constructively; and to be guided by complex moral ethical compasses. In these small ways, I hope to help build personal capacities for a more sustainable democratic culture in Singapore.
