ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the effects of economic globalization on public policy in Singapore, which has the world's most globalized economy. It finds that contrary to the assumption of much of the literature on the subject, it is the state, rather than systemic imperatives, that has played the most decisive role in shaping the form and scope of the economy's globalization. Its examination of the effects of globalization on policy choices in three broad areas — economic development, national security, and social development — in Singapore shows that globalization has not only constrained policy choices, but expanded them as well. The case study suggests that we need to ascribe greater centrality to the agency of the state in the globalization process and develop a more nuanced conception of the opportunities it affords and the constraints it imposes.
