The Democratic Transitions Of One-predominant-Party-System Authoritarian Regime In Singapore

A system-change perspective on democratic transitions of one-predominant -party-system authoritarian regime in Singapore, This article will analyze its production environment, operational mechanism, puesuit of legitimacy and dilemma of its performance legitimacy, the internal structure dual tension and so on, then use the new model of the democratic transition and the consolidation proposed by Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan to analyze the possible way of democratization in Singapore. The development-type authoritarian regime controls society strictly, but opens highly in the economical aspects, authoritarian regime and democracy coexist, the People Action Party (PAP)monopolize all powers to oneself continuously for a long time while keep the democratic parliamentary cabinet system.The parliamentary system, centralization tradition and single level state structure is political context of authoritarian regime established in Singapore; social environment that The multi-dimensional race, the multiculture and the multi-dimensional religion coexist is social condition of authoritarian regime ; The Chinese people take first place in proportion to population, political culture which by the confucianist ethics politics culture as the essencial body is psychological condition that the authoritarian regime was establishmented; The deficient natural resources ,the dangerous geographical environment and the international environment which the two-pole contention and the peripheral threat to Singapore in the period of independence initialty is objective request which the authoritarian regime was establishmented. The operational mechanism of one-predominant-party-system authoritarian regime in Singapore is : the people action party controlling legislation, administration and judicature; suppressing opposition parties,and limitting opposition party's development space; costructing formidable government, maintaining political stability and efficiency; promoting the economy and society to develop, seeking performance approval that the government demand; controling basic-level organizations to consolidate social basis. But, because of its deep-level problems that exist in one predominant-system-party authoritarian regime in Singapore,so democratic transitions has been doomed ultimately.Although the People Action Party take the advantage of parliament election, construction of compatible political party, insistence of the capable in power, improvement in livelihood of the people practically,the inherent contradictions, especially its dilemma of performance letismition and interior dual intense within the political structure are unable to solute basically whithin one-predominant-party-system authoritarian regime. As far as intrinsic mechanism of democratic transitions is conserned in Singapore, in the arena of civil society, the government controls mass organizations, controls news and universites;in the arena of political society, give the first place to the people action party, the incumbent party controls the election process.In the arena of government by law, limit power by law, law-enforce severely, but rule of the the separation of powers and the multi-party competition stipulated in constitution has not fulfilled; The bureaucrat organizations and the economic society can support the democratic trnsitions. Speaking of independent variables about democratic transitions and consolidations, the construction of independent sovereignty country has been completed, the government is promoting the race fusion and constructing nation-state; Democratic factors contained in authoritarian regime are useful to democratization; Leaders of the people action party on own initiative to adopt democraization strategy to advance democratic transitions in Singapore; Democratization pressure in the world, the foreign policy and route of democratization in the east asian area and so on , are also promoting Singapore's democratization.