ABSTRACT
The key to Singapore’s attraction as a model for the developing world is its technocratic system of government. Singapore’s form of technocracy is not just a matter of ‘rule by experts’; rather it is a system of public policy management that takes a whole-of-society rather than just a whole-of-government approach, founded on notions of meritocracy and high levels of professional administrative competence. It is this system and ideology that has provided the singular point of attraction for the political and administrative leadership of China and other parts of the developing world. Yet Singapore’s technocratic system has demonstrably failed. Indeed the period during which it had a good track record to be offering Master classes in governance was a window of around a decade and a half, stretching from about 1990 to about 2005. This chapter unpacks the mechanics of Singapore’s technocratic system and argues that the weaknesses of its technocratic system of governance are intrinsic to the system and that its weaknesses as a long-term system of government and its success as a short-term system of regeneration share a common foundation. This flaw raises doubts about the wisdom of treating Singapore as a model for governance.
