Singaporean Authoritarian Capitalism—Why does it work? And how long can it last? A Circumstantial success story.

Abstract

As an authoritarian country achieves more economic freedom, it is often urged by its citizens to start pursuing social freedoms. This has led to the liberalization of many authoritarian nations and pushed them to adopt more liberal policies. But not Singapore. Singapore is one of the most economically-developed countries in the world yet it has a surprising lack of social/political freedom. But how does it succeed where so many others have failed? Why is Singapore one of the most successful free-market economies as well as one of the most societally restrictive? And how long can it continue to succeed? As it stands now, the same political party has been winning elections in Singapore for more than 60 years. How long can they last?