Reports

Discussion Papers

No.724 Status Quo or Plurality?: Dominant Party Rule and People’s Preferences in Singapore

by Takeshi Kawanaka

July 2018

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to identify attributes of individuals that affect their political preferences regarding the dominant party rule in Singapore. In particular, the paper f ocuses on the effects of three socioeconomic attributes-education, income, and generation-on people’s preferences for political changes. By using the data from the Post-Election Surveys conducted in 2011 and 2015 by the Institute of Policy Studies Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, this empirical examination show that, ceteris paribus, youth and higher levels of education enhance positive perceptions of political plurality. The results also indicate that income has significant effects, primarily that persons with lower incomes show strong support for the status quo, whereas persons with moderate income are more in clined to support political plurality.

Keywords:Election, Political Party, Political Regime, Singapore

JEL classification:D72

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