Managed Crisis

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11,§2001, the United States government has frequently§relied on the terrorist threat to justify§restrictions on personal liberties. This demonstrates§that a threat to the state can legitimize§authoritarian measures. In the extreme, the national§threat can even enable the ruling elite to completely§hollow out a state's democratic institutions as has§been the case in Singapore. This book asserts that§Singapore's rulers have consciously used the national§threat to legitimize their authoritarian rule. On the§one hand, they have stressed the variegated dangers§to Singapore's very survival but on the other hand§they have also sought to demonstrate their capability§of managing each of these threats. At the time of§independence, the Communist threat and the threat of§race riots dominated the agenda. This was closely§linked to the threat that the city-state's neighbors,§Indonesia and Malaysia, posed to the security of the§nation. Singapore's rulers have also emphasized the§economic threat that could easily destroy the tiny§state. In recent years, Singapore has also stressed§the dangers of terrorism and communicable diseases§such as SARS.