Authoritarian Rule of Law Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore

Author: Jothie Rajah
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781107634169
Published In: July 2012
Format: Paperback , 364 pages
Jurisdiction: Singapore ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

Out of stock

Description
Contents
Author

Details

Scholars have generally assumed that authoritarianism and rule of law are mutually incompatible. Convinced that free markets and rule of law must tip authoritarian societies in a liberal direction, nearly all studies of law and contemporary politics have neglected that improbable coupling: authoritarian rule of law. Through a focus on Singapore, this book presents an analysis of authoritarian legalism. It shows how prosperity, public discourse, and a rigorous observance of legal procedure have enabled a reconfigured rule of law such that liberal form encases illiberal content. Institutions and process at the bedrock of rule of law and liberal democracy become tools to constrain dissent while augmenting discretionary political power – even as the national and international legitimacy of the state is secured. This book offers a valuable and original contribution to understanding the complexities of law, language and legitimacy in our time.

• The first study of how political liberalism can be systematically dismantled such that a nation might be lauded the world over as rule of law even as basic legal freedoms are eroded

• The first close and sustained analysis - spanning 50 years - of the political processes

• The first application of discourse analysis to penetrate deeply into the ideological techniques and effects of authoritarian assaults on liberal institutions of rule of law

An Insider’s Preface on ‘Rule of Law’ Confusions	xiii
Acknowledgements	xvii
1. Law, Illiberalism and the Singapore Case	1
Why Singapore Matters	4
Authoritarian Legitimacy	7
Case Studies of ‘Laws’ That Silence	13
From Backwater to Metropolis: Prosperity, ‘Race’ and ‘Law’	20
Disciplining Difference Through ‘Law’	32
‘Rule of Law’: Thick, Thin, Dual and Dicey	37
‘Law’ and the Dual State	42
‘Law’, Political Liberalism and the Moderate State	45
‘Rule by Law’: Practices of Illiberalism	50
2. Law as Discourse: Theoretical and Definitional Parameters	55
A Foucaultian Toolkit	60
3. Punishing Bodies, Securing the Nation: 1966 Vandalism Act	65
Politics and Vandalism in 1966	66
The “Aid Vietnam” Campaign	69
Exemplary Punishment and the Vulnerable Nation	74
A Fragmentary Jurisprudence of Vandalism	80
Ang Chin Sang v. Public Prosecutor	86
‘Vandalism’ and Caning in a Post–Cold War World	89
Public Discourse on ‘Vandalism’ in 1994	91
The Importance of Being Serious	98
Joint Trial: Narrative of Police Abuse	100
East versus West: Social Order and Punishment	104
Statist Courts	110
The Panopticon ‘Nation’	113
4. Policing the Press: Newspaper and Printing Presses Act	117
Significance of the Press Act	119
Staging Legitimacy: The Helsinki Platform	127
Lee the Pastoral Pedagogue	136
Performing Legitimacy Through Select Committees	139
The 1974 Press Act: Governance, Ideology and Investment	142
The Press Act After 1974	144
New Dangers: Foreign Publications	148
The Susceptible Singaporean	152
The Internet and Public Discourse	156
5. Policing Lawyers, Constraining Citizenship: Legal Profession (Amendment) Act, 1986	161
Lawyers in a Quandary	163
Silenced Lawyers: A Genealogy	165
Disciplining Detainees’ Lawyers	170
Accelerated State Responses	180
Selective Hearing: Interrogation and State Authority	181
The Role of Lee Kuan Yew	183
Associational Activity and Individual Culpability	190
Debate in the Public Domain	197
Neo-Colonialism in the Post-Colonial Leader	202
Modes of Silencing: Detention Without Trial	205
A Lost Moment for the Legal Complex	209
History Repeats Itself: Alarming Continuities, Revealing Differences	212
Lawyers in a Dual State: No ‘Publics’, No ‘Politics’	215
6. Policing Religion: Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act	219
Linear Chronologies and Recursive Discourse	220
The Authority to Determine Intention	224
The ‘Marxist Conspiracy’: When Hidden Dangers Are Visible Only to the State	226
‘Class’ and Activism in the ‘Marxist Conspiracy’	231
Religion: The New Communism?	234
Restraining Orders: Developing State Knowledge of ‘Religion’	239
Restraining Orders, Restraining Self	241
‘Law’ as Performance	243
Empty Performances? The Presidential Council for Religious Harmony	247
The Law That Has Not Been Used	250
Legislation as Policy and Policing Statement	254
7. Entrenching Illiberalism: The 2009 Public Order Act	259
Mega-Events	260
Augmenting Public Order	263
8. Legislation, Illiberalism and Legitimacy	267
Ibahri and the State	268
Law for Development	272
Post-Colonial Ambivalence	275
The Legitimacy of ‘English Law’	277
Constantly Colonised Citizens	278
A Template for ‘Rule by Law’ Legitimacy	280
‘Rule by Law’ and a Tenuous Grasp on Power	284
Governmentality, Legal Exceptionalism and Elections	286
Alliances, Transcendences and Spokespersons for Publics	291
Conclusion	294
Bibliography	299
Index	333