Goldilocks' Purgatory: The Public Transcript of Performative Governance in Singapore.
This article introduces a novel concept--Goldilocks' Purgatory--to explain how the Singaporean state rhetorically communicates to itself, and to internal and external audiences, of the logic and correctness of its political and policy decisions. By framing every decision as a carefully deliberated m...
| Publicado en: | Pacific Affairs (Pacific Affairs) Vol. 97; no. 4; pp. 749 - 773 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Pacific Affairs
Dec2024
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=181595233&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 181595233 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0030851X PAA jtl: Pacific Affairs (Pacific Affairs) issn: 0030851X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2024 vid: 97 iid: 4 pid: 10992 pub: Pacific Affairs artinfo: ui: 181595233 10.5509/2024974-art2 ppf: 749 ppct: 24 formats: tig: atl: Goldilocks' Purgatory: The Public Transcript of Performative Governance in Singapore. aug: au: Ong, Elvin affil: Assistant professor and SSHRF Fellow in the department of political science at the National University of Singapore su: Singapore Political communication Government policy Political correctness Political campaigns Macroeconomic models sug: subj: Political communication Government policy Political correctness Political campaigns Singapore Macroeconomic models keyword: electoral authoritarian regime policy making political communication propaganda regime legitimacy Southeast Asia electoral authoritarian regime policy making political communication propaganda regime legitimacy Southeast Asia ab: This article introduces a novel concept--Goldilocks' Purgatory--to explain how the Singaporean state rhetorically communicates to itself, and to internal and external audiences, of the logic and correctness of its political and policy decisions. By framing every decision as a carefully deliberated moderate choice that balances between two extreme and unsavoury options, state actors convince themselves and their audiences that their decisions are legitimate, justifiable, optimal, and worthy of support. This transcript is socially rooted in a civil service that analyzes public policy via basic macroeconomic models of dichotomized trade-offs, politically rooted in the People's Action Party's (PAP) continued electoral success and political dominance, and economically rooted in neoliberal global capitalism that prizes regulatory conservatism. This article further specifies how to empirically identify and measure Goldilocks' Purgatory, and illustrates its expression over time through an analysis of public pronouncements on Singapore's most contentious public policies--those related to immigration and foreign workers. Ultimately, Goldilocks' Purgatory explains why criticisms of Singapore politics and public policy are neutered and minimal, and why the country's electoral politics is so valence-focused and slowmoving. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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