Foreign Affairs

Resisting Authoritarian Populism

The Donald Trump presidency and Brexit have dominated public discourse this year. Both have been characterized as manifestations of what appears to be a rising tide of right-wing populist politics in many parts of the world. In 2011, Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party won the country’s general elections, but earned its lowest percentage of the popular vote in more than half a century. Although many viewed these elections as a sign of political liberalization and maturity, a few were concerned that Singapore’s paternalistic and technically rational administrative state, would start to succumb to populism, and that the Singapore success story would start to unravel. This, in fact, has not happened.