Since Independence, the People's Action Party has dominated Parliament, and firmly entrenched the principles of integrity, meritocracy, multi-racialism, social cohesion and political harmony in Singapore's governance system. Nevertheless, there has been an evolution of the political system to accommodate greater social and political diversity, and public participation in policy-making. The civil service has developed its capacity in strategic futures thinking and whole-of-government, multi-agency action to anticipate change and uncertainty thrown up by local, regional and geopolitical developments.

IPS provides a national platform for greater public participation in the process of policy development and continues to research and explore models for effective engagement of citizens and civil society for policy making. With greater political pluralism, an on-going challenge is for public leaders to decide who, when and how they should engage in the governance process. This is to ensure that the process is inclusive, responsive, and benefits from the resources and wisdom from all possible sources. Participation also strengthens the sense of ownership and citizenship.

IPS also tracks the trends in Singaporeans' sense of identity, national pride, and rootedness. Given rapid changes in the social landscape due to economic development, immigration and other reasons, the resilience or the ability of a community to hold together in bonds founded in trust, reciprocity, common identity and civility, is critical and a major factor of political stability. All these elements have an impact on voters' attitudes and electoral politics. IPS synthesises the various perspectives and deepens the understanding of how Singapore operates as a democracy.

STAFF

Gillian Koh
Valerie Koh
Tay Ek Kiat

KEY PROJECTS/PUBLICATIONS

Singapore Perspectives 2013 Conference on Governance
Organised by Gillian Koh, Valerie Koh and Tay Ek Kiat, 28 January 2013

IPS Prism Project
Organised by Gillian Koh, Jason Loe and Valerie Koh, November 2012

IPS-aAdvantage Roundtable, "The National Values Assessment (Singapore 2012)"
Report by Tay Ek Kiat, 23 August 2012

IPS Lunch Forum, "Harm Minimisation Measures – Taking the Long View On Gambling"
Report by Valerie Koh, 4 July 2012

IPS Conference on Integration
Report by Debbie Soon and Andrew Lim, 21 May 2012 [Read more]

IPS Closed-Door Discussion on the CEDAW Report 2011 on Singapore: "Addressing Violence Against Women"
Report, 5 March 2012 [Read more]

The Future of Singapore's Civil Society
By Gillian Koh and Debbie Soon, in Social Space 2012, Lien Centre for Social Innovation, Singapore Management University.

IPS Forum on the Presidential Election (Report)
Report by Gillian Koh and Debbie Soon, 1 November 2011 [Read more]

IPS Forum on the Presidential Election (Highlights)
Report by Gillian Koh and Debbie Soon, 1 November 2011 [Read more]

IPS Briefing Session with Lord Peter Mandelson
Report by Debbie Soon, 16 September 2011

IPS Perception of Policies in Singapore Survey POPS(5) – Presidential Election Survey 2011
By Gillian Koh, Leong Chan-Hoong, Debbie Soon, and Tan Ern Ser, September 2011

IPS Forum on the Elected Presidency
Report by Debbie Soon, 5 August 2011 [Read more]

IPS Post-Election Forum
Report by Gillian Koh, Leong Chan-Hoong, Debbie Soon, and Tan Ern Ser, 8 July 2011 [Read more]

IPS Roundtable, "Responsible Gaming"
Report by Nikki Soo, 9 June 2011 [Read more]

IPS Forum, "What Youth Want"
Report by Gillian Koh, Nikki Soo and Debbie Soon, 7 June 2011 [Read more]

IPS Perception of Policies in Singapore Survey POPS(4) – IPS Post-Election Survey 2011
By Gillian Koh, Leong Chan-Hoong, Debbie Soon, and Tan Ern Ser, May 2011

IPS Roundtable, "Sizing up Social Capital"
Report by Debbie Soon, 31 March 2011

IPS Roundtable on the "Survey on Attitudes to Emigration"
By Leong Chan-Hoong, March 2011

A Study on Emigration Attitudes of Young Singaporeans (2010), IPS Working Papers No. 19
By Leong Chan-Hoong and Debbie Soon, March 2011

Closed Door Discussion on Budget 2011
By Gillian Koh, 28 February 2011

The Politics of (Non-)Interference from the Singapore State
By Azhar Ghani and Gillian Koh in The AWARE Saga, edited by Terence Chong (2011). NUS Press:Singapore.

Civil Society in Singapore
By Gillian Koh and Debbie Soon, in Terence Chong and Stefanie Elies (eds.), An ASEAN Community for All: Exploring the Scope for Civil Society Engagement, published by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2011, pp. 111 to 126.

IPS Young Singaporeans Conference 2010 on Future.Identity.Talent@Singapore
Report on the 2010 YSC Conference, November 2010 [Read more]

IPS Roundtable, "Defining Social Impact", by Professor Peter Shergold, Chief Executive Officer and Macquarie Group Foundation Professor, Centre for Social Impact, Australia
By the IPS Politics and Governance cluster, 6 July 2010

IPS Roundtable on Philanthropy
Report by Debbie Soon, 29 June 2010 [Read more]

IPS Roundtable, "Singapore's Integrated Resorts: The New Game in Town", by Ronald Tan and Dr Derek da Cunha
Report by Debbie Soon, 4 February 2010

Citizens and the Nation: National Orientations of Singaporeans Survey (NOS4)
By Gillian Koh and Tan Ern Ser, 2010

IPS Perception of Policies in Singapore Survey POPS(3) – Resilience in Economic Crisis
By Gillian Koh, December 2009

IPS Closed-Door Discussions on Integration in Singapore
By the IPS Demography and Family, and Politics and Governance clusters, September 2009

IPS Roundtable in the City, "The Singapore Freeport Story", by Alain Vandenborre, President, The Singapore Freeport Pte Ltd
Report by Debbie Soon, 19 August 2009

IPS Perception of Policies in Singapore Survey POPS(1) – Resilience in Economic Crisis
By Gillian Koh, February 2009

IPS-ESS Breakfast, "2009: Another Annus Horribilis?" featuring Professor J Bradford Delong
Report by Debbie Soon, 6 January 2009 [Read more]

Pruning the Banyan Tree? Civil Society in Goh's Singapore
By Gillian Koh, in Impressions: The Goh Years in Singapore, by Bridget Welsh, James Chin, Arun Mahizhnan and Tan Tarn How (eds.), NUS Press & Institute of Policy Studies: Singapore, pp. 93-106

IPS 20th Anniversary Edition of The Young Singaporeans Conference 2008 on "Cultivating a Singapore Creative Class"
Report on the 2008 YSC Conference, November 2008 [Read more]

IPS Closed Door Discussion, "Attitudes on Emigration Among Young Singaporeans"
By Leong Chan-Hoong, 31 October 2008

"Electronics: Fueling Asia's Prosperity" featuring Mr Francois Guibert, Corporate Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific ST Microelectronics
Report of IPS Roundtable in the City, 8 October 2008

IPS Seminar on "Microfinance" by Ms Laure Anquez, Southeast Asia Regional Coordinator, PlaNet Finance, and Mr Cyrille Parant, Head of the PlaNet Finance Investment Services Unit, PlaNet Finance
Report by Wong Meisen, 20 March 2008 [Read more]

Singapore Perspectives 2008 Conference on "Singapore Futures – Scenarios for the Next Generation"
Report by Gillian Koh, February 2008 [Read more]

"Making CEDAW Work in Singapore"
Report on IPS Forum, 29 November 2007

Discussion on Venture Philanthropy
By Gillian Koh and Jeanne Conceicao, 20 August 2007

"Empowering the Poor: Lessons from Microfinancing", By Professor Muhammad Yunus, Founder & Managing Director of Grameen Bank
Report on IPS Nobel Laureate Lecture, 13 August 2007

Discussion on Venture Philanthropy
By Gillian Koh and Jeanne Conceicao, 11 May 2007

Workshop on Venture Philanthropy, "Incubating Social Innovation"
By Gillian Koh and Jeanne Conceicao, 30 March 2007

Social Resilience and its Bases in Multicultural Singapore
By Gillian Koh in Learning from London: Exploring Social Resilience in Singapore, By Norman Vasu and Yolanda Chin (eds.), Select Books: Singapore, 2007.

The whole World can become democratic, even Singapore!
Report on Public Lecture by Professor Larry Diamond, 12 September 2006

Of big citizens, inclusive communities, and shared values
Report on IPS Young Singaporeans Conference 2006, 19-20 September 2006

Behind-the-Scenes of 'That IPS Survey'
By Gillian Koh, June 2006.

IPS Post-Election Survey 2006
By Gillian Koh, Tan Ern Ser and Jeanne Conceicao, June 2006.

Singapore Report on Politics, Regional Outlook
By Gillian Koh, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies: Singapore, December 2005, released January 2006

"Report: IPS Forum on the Casino Proposal"
Gillian Koh, 10 January 2005.

"Developments In Singapore 2004"
Speech by Jeanne Conceicao at Singapore International Foundation's 6TH Overseas Singapore Clubs Forum, 11 February 2005.

Report on Government-Initiated Public Consultation in Singapore: Case Studies, Feedback and Recommendations
Gillian Koh, April 2004

Relationship between State and Civil Society in Singapore: Clarifying the Concepts, Assessing the Ground
Gillian Koh and Ooi Giok Ling, in Lee Hock Guan (ed.), Civil Society in Southeast Asia, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2004. pp. 167-197.

The IPS Civil Society Organisations Survey Project 2000
Gillian Koh and Ooi Giok Ling, in Constance Singam, Tan Chong Kee, Tisa Ng, and Leon Perera (eds.), Building Social Space in Singapore, Singapore: Select Publishing, 2002, pp.189-206.

Singapore: A Home, A Nation?
Gillian Koh & Ooi Giok Ling, in Southeast Asian Affairs 2002. Singapore: The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002

State-Society Relations in Singapore
Gillian Koh & Ooi Giok Ling. Singapore: IPS & Oxford University Press, 2000

Mandarin, Masses and Mnemonic Devices: An Inquiry into the State of Social Capital Between the Government and Civil Society in Singapore

Project co-organised with the Master in Public Policy Programme, National University of Singapore, Jan 2000 - mid-2001

IPS Survey of Civil Society Organizations, Mar - Nov 2000

Citizens And The Nation - Ips Survey Of National Pride And Citizens' Psychological Ties To The Nation, 18 February 2000

Survey of Political Participation in Singapore
Ooi Giok Ling, Tan Ern Ser & Gillian Koh, in Asia Pacific Journal of Political Science, Vol.7 No.2, 1999

Social Indicators Survey (Political Attitudes and Participation)

The Social Indicators Research Project, co-organised with the Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore, 1997 - 1998

Conference on Civil Society: Harnessing State-Society Synergies 6 - 7 May 1998

FUTURE RESEARCH

Given adequate funding, the Institute seeks to conduct a multi-year research programme titled Social Cohesion in Singapore. This looks at various possible sources of social tension in Singapore society to map various possible trajectories and implications for cohesion and political management for years ahead. The first two projects in the programme are already underway – one on Ethnic Relations and another on Religion (See section on Multiculturalism and Identities). Possible topics for future study include Class, Religion and Demography.