Managed Crisis: Legitimacy and the National Threat in Singapore [Paperback]

Stephan Ortmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2009

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States government has frequently relied on the terrorist threat to justify restrictions on personal liberties. This demonstrates that a threat to the state can legitimize authoritarian measures. In the extreme, the national threat can even enable the ruling elite to completely hollow out a state's democratic institutions as has been the case in Singapore. This book asserts that Singapore's rulers have consciously used the national threat to legitimize their authoritarian rule. On the one hand, they have stressed the variegated dangers to Singapore's very survival but on the other hand they have also sought to demonstrate their capability of managing each of these threats. At the time of independence, the Communist threat and the threat of race riots dominated the agenda. This was closely linked to the threat that the city-state's neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia, posed to the security of the nation. Singapore's rulers have also emphasized the economic threat that could easily destroy the tiny state. In recent years, Singapore has also stressed the dangers of terrorism and communicable diseases such as SARS.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

is Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at the FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3639118820
• ISBN-13: 978-3639118827
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,085,408 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephan Ortmann was born in Marburg, Germany, in 1976. He studied at the University of Tübingen, College of Charleston, and University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He received his PhD degree in 2008 from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. Since 2008, he is working as an assistant professor at the FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany's only public distance university. He teaches classes on comparative politics, democratization, and authoritarian regimes. His research focus is on the political development in Asia. His previous work deals with Singapore and Hong Kong politics but recently he has also conducted research in China.