This core area has two distinct but clearly related prongs. The first has to do with party and electoral politics. It also includes the politics of public policy-making in that there is constant negotiation between state and non-state actors for the recognition of needs, resources, power and authority in both the deliberation and implementation of public policy. This is referred to as state-society relations.

Our approach to the development of state-society relations is that socio-economic structures and forces feed into politics and the political system. They are themselves influenced by how political elites shape the political system and policies. Singapore’s evolution into a mature industrial society, the impact of a globalizing post-industrial world, and its multicultural complexion raise important issues regarding social cohesion and the political challenge of how to manage difference in the future.

Another important indicator of trends in state-society relations that the Institute is monitoring is the development of civil society in Singapore, in particular the capacity of citizens for self-help and self-organisation for political participation.

Governance issues, on the other hand, include how bureaucracy functions, and the design and management of public consultation and feedback processes. Key developments in the decentralisation and devolution of central state authority to local structures, like the formation of town councils and community development councils in the past, are of interest here.

STAFF

Ooi Giok Ling
Gillian Koh
Leong Chan Hoong

KEY PROJECTS/PUBLICATIONS

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.

"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.