Malaysia and Singapore in the world economy: State, capitalism, and authoritarianism

This dissertation is a comparative historical analysis between Malaysia and Singapore on the relationship between capitalist development and authoritarianism. Both Malaysia and Singapore have recorded remarkable economic growths and rapid industrial development, but both these countries have also shown to be moving toward state authoritarian rule. The rise of authoritarianism in these countries is analyzed through four interactive state development-related variables that shape the nature of politics in these countries. First is the development of institutions that have enabled the state to assume and strengthen its power over all other social forces. This in turn has empowered the state to forge alliances with both foreign and local capitalists in order to survive in the world economy. In this regard, even though so-called democratic institutions such as representative government and electoral processes are seen to exist, their effectiveness as genuine democratic institutions is limited. Second, social and political tensions entrenched in ethnonational-class inequalities have given rise to serious difficulties in the formation of cross-ethnonational popular alliances. These difficulties arise not from the multi-ethnonational character of society but rather from the domination of economic power by one group used to politically subsume other groups. The state also frequently justifies authoritarian rule as a way to suppress ethnonational tensions and enforce coexistence between the various groups. Third, the dependent nature of capitalist development itself aggravates existing wealth concentration, thereby reinforcing state-capital alliances and widening existing disparities. The more dependent the state is, the more repressive is its administration to accommodate capital investments. Fourth, peripheral state development has thrust the state into the leading role of economic planning as well as policy formulation. Thus by exploiting ideologies constructed around economic nationalism, the state often justifies its authoritarian rule as a politically legitimate means of attaining an economically prosperous end. Both Malaysia and Singapore are chosen for this comparative study due to their phenomenal economic growth, their development toward state authoritarian rule, and their unique social-political histories, that in many ways set these countries apart from many capitalist peripheral states.