A Comparative Analysis of Institutional Constraints and Cultural Perceptual Differences in Singapore's Public Affairs
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper investigates Singapore’s governance model by analyzing how institutional constraints, including laws, bureaucratic structures and political systems, interact with cultural perceptions among the country’s major ethnic groups—Chinese, Malays and Indians—to shape public affairs outcomes. The findings show that while Singapore’s strong top-down governance ensures policy efficiency, stability and rapid implementation, it can also appear rigid when social and cultural dynamics shift. The diversity of ethnic communities presents challenges to uniform policy acceptance but simultaneously creates opportunities for dialogue, mutual learning and innovation in governance practices. The study concludes that the most effective policies are those that successfully integrate technical expertise with cultural intelligence, thereby achieving broader legitimacy and public acceptance across diverse communities. However, policies that neglect cultural perceptions risk generating resistance and unforeseen challenges despite their institutional soundness. The research is limited by its single-case focus, and future studies would benefit from comparative and longitudinal approaches that explore how different societies manage cultural diversity within varied institutional frameworks.
Author: Yuxiang Xiao
Institution: Northeastern University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4415190704
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