- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Are Singaporean elections credible? How has one party won every election since 1959?
Posted on 3/12/18 at 2:51 pm
Posted on 3/12/18 at 2:51 pm
I can think of no other democracy where a party held power for more than 25-30 years straight. Seems like there would be at least ONCE election in the last 70 years where the ruling party was seeing so many issues that they lost. Yet it has not happened in Singapore.
Imagine if every presidential election since 1960 was won by the republican party in America....it would be a statistical miracle in an open democracy.
quote:
The PAP has been the dominant political party in Singapore, re-elected continuously since 1959. It is headed by Lee Hsien Loong, who succeeded Goh Chok Tong. Goh's predecessor Lee Kuan Yew served as Singapore's prime minister from independence through 1990. Since stepping down as prime minister, Lee remained influential as Senior Minister and Minister Mentor.
PAP has held the overwhelming majority of seats in parliament since 1966, when the opposition Barisan Sosialis Party resigned from parliament and left the PAP as the sole representative party. PAP won all of the seats in an expanding parliament in the general elections of 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980. PAP's share of the popular vote in contested seats declined from 78% in 1980 to 65% in 1997. However, the elections of 2001 saw the party's share of the popular vote climb to 75%, winning 82 of the 84 seats. Singapore general election, 2006 marked the first time since 1988 the PAP did not return to power on nomination day, with the opposition parties fielding candidates in over half of the constituencies. Overall PAP saw its share of the vote fall to 66.6%.
Imagine if every presidential election since 1960 was won by the republican party in America....it would be a statistical miracle in an open democracy.
11
Posted on 3/12/18 at 2:55 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Did you think they were? Singapore is a "managed" democracy like Russia, it routinely detains journalists and protestors and has heavy restrictions on speech. LINK
quote:EDIT: There's only a few countries in the world that don't at least profess to be democracies on paper. Saudi Arabia, Brunei, and the Vatican are about it.
Singapore is not an electoral democracy. The country is governed through a parliamentary system, and elections are free from irregularities and vote rigging, but the ruling PAP dominates the political process. The prime minister retains control over the Elections Department, and the country lacks a structurally independent election authority. Opposition campaigns have typically been hamstrung by a ban on political films and television programs, the threat of libel suits, strict regulations on political associations, and the PAP’s influence on the media and the courts.
This post was edited on 3/12/18 at 3:00 pm
Posted on 3/12/18 at 2:57 pm to Iosh
quote:
Did you think they were? Singapore is a "managed" democracy like Russia, it routinely detains journalists and protestors and has heavy restrictions on speech.
Yeah, Bourdain recently did an episode on Singapore.
They basically trade in freedoms for a completely orderly, clean, well run society.
The ruling party is pretty careful to "not act like a dictatorship"...but they are essentially are one.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 2:58 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Democrats were governors in SC for nearly 100 years (1876-1975)
Posted on 3/12/18 at 2:59 pm to Iosh
Do you mean like the Dem primaries are "managed?"
Posted on 3/12/18 at 3:02 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
They basically trade in freedoms for a completely orderly, clean, well run society. The ruling party is pretty careful to "not act like a dictatorship"...but they are essentially are one.
My late uncle traveled the world throughout the 70's, 80's, and 90's for his work. He lived and worked in some real nice places, like Europe, and in some real shitholes like Nigeria and Syria. In all that time, he said the only place he ever felt like he had to keep looking over his shoulder was Singapore.
This post was edited on 3/12/18 at 3:03 pm
Posted on 3/12/18 at 3:05 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
I can think of no other democracy where a party held power
I mean look at Peoples Republic of China. They hold elections periodically too. Its a wonder the people keep voting the communists back in.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 3:07 pm to NYNolaguy1
Posted on 3/12/18 at 3:10 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
Imagine if every presidential election since 1960 was won by the republican party in America
Given the sad state of the Republican Party in 2018, if this had happened, America would likely be a wasteland right now.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 3:11 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
The PAP has been the dominant political party in Singapore, re-elected continuously since 1959.
soooooo...it has been a PAP smear?
Posted on 3/12/18 at 3:11 pm to culsutiger
quote:
Democrats were governors in SC for nearly 100 years (1876-1975)
That's true ... it was a big deal here when we elected our first Republican. But, let's remember, the Radical Republicans left a nasty legacy in this state in the post Civil War Reconstruction Era.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 4:15 pm to TheFonz
quote:
My late uncle traveled the world throughout the 70's, 80's, and 90's for his work. He lived and worked in some real nice places, like Europe, and in some real shitholes like Nigeria and Syria. In all that time, he said the only place he ever felt like he had to keep looking over his shoulder was Singapore.
That's bullshite.
I have traveled to over 50 countries, many of them real authoritarian dictatorships (Venezuela, Myanmar, Cambodia, Russia) and many of them dangerous shitholes (Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Indonesia (during riots and bombings), etc.). I have a pretty good feel for where the dangerous and poorly run places are and what they look like.
I lived in Singapore for 4 years. I could put my 11 year old son in a taxi across the city by himself and never think a thing about it. I lived 2 blocks away from the "4 Floors of Whores", so clearly it was not as ruthless and straight-jacketed as it is commonly portrayed. It is also the place where the government is so well-run that it functions better than private enterprise. The only people who have something to fear there are generally involved in drugs, which carries a mandatory death sentence.
Does Singapore keep a lid on the press? Yes, but is that worse than the blatant partisanship and unchecked agendas we have? Hardly.
Is the PAP some monolithic entity that shuts out people who don't fit a profile for race, income, or other metric? Not that I ever saw.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 4:20 pm to Ag Zwin
Oh, and the LDP has held power continuously in Japan since 1955, with the exception of a period between 1993 and 1994, and again from 2009 to 2012.
I've lived there, too. Again, hardly a dictatorship and one of the safest places I have ever been.
I've lived there, too. Again, hardly a dictatorship and one of the safest places I have ever been.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 4:20 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
One race, one face...
Posted on 3/12/18 at 4:33 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
Even though I really like the guy, it's important to note that once he took power, Lee Kwan Yu threw all of his potential political challengers in prison for about 25 years.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 6:14 pm to Froman
quote:
Given the sad state of the Republican Party in 2018, if this had happened, America would likely be a wasteland right now.
This is stupid.
More taxes and more illegals would be so much better!
Let's have Maxine Waters chair a committee!
Let's ignore any laws we do not like!
Posted on 3/12/18 at 6:17 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
I can think of no other democracy where a party held power for more than 25-30 years straight.
Mexico from 1934 to 2000
Boy that took a lot of research on my part, 20 seconds to get the dates.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 6:48 pm to TheFonz
quote:
only place he ever felt like he had to keep looking over his shoulder was Singapore
Only place he got bent over, huh? Well, could have been a lot worse.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 6:51 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
There is no such thing as a "credible" democracy.
Posted on 3/12/18 at 6:55 pm to HailHailtoMichigan!
quote:
I can think of no other democracy
It's not much of a democracy
Page 1 of 2
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News