Civil Society Development In Singapore And Its Impact On Political Transition

After the founding of the Republic of Singapore in 1965,the Lee Kuan Yew government began to exercise authoritarian rule and develop an outward-looking economy for the survival of Singapore and to secure the rule of the People's Action Party.During the two decades from the 1970s to the 1990s,Singapore became one of the four fastest growing economies in Asia.The rapid development of Singapore's economy led to a polarization of Singapore's social structure,and the Singaporean middle class began to grow in strength.With the maturity of economic conditions,the awakening of national rights awareness and the influence of the wave of democratization,three generations of Singapore leaders began to reflect on authoritarian rule and carried out corresponding reforms of the political system,and Singapore's political transformation proceeded smoothly in an uneventful manner.Society has a certain space for political development,Civil society was in its infancy during the latter part of the Lee Kuan Yew administration(1980-1990),expanded during the Goh Chok Tong administration(1990-2004),and further developed during the Lee Hsien Loong administration(2004-present).By sorting out the development stages and characteristics of Singapore's civil society,it is found that the effective political participation of civil society and the function of social organizations play a positive role in releasing political transformation in Singapore.Then,by analyzing the characteristics of Singapore's political culture with Almond's Civic Culture Theory,it can be speculated that Singapore will gradually move towards a civic culture in the future,which has a great role in promoting political participation,and under such a political culture,Singapore's civil society may gradually advance in an orderly manner.At the same time,the maturity of Singapore's civil society will be extremely beneficial to the further development of democratization and consolidation of democracy.