Singapore was one of the early adopters of e-government initiatives in keeping with its status as one of the few developed Asian countries and has continued to be at the forefront of developing e-government structures. While crediting the city-state for the speed of its development, observers have critiqued that the republic limits pluralism, which directly affects e-governance initiatives. This article draws on two recent government initiatives, the notions of corporatism and communitarianism and the concept of symmetry and asymmetry in communication to present the e-government and e-governance structures in Singapore. Four factors are presented as critical for the creation of a successful e-government infrastructure: an educated citizenry; adequate technical infrastructures; offering e-services that citizens need; and commitment from top government officials to support the necessary changes with financial resources and leadership. However, to have meaningful e-governance there has to be political pluralism, which occurs only when permitted by the state.
AC Nielsen (2003) ‘Singapore e-Government’, URL (consulted 20 March 2006): http://www.egov.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/E8AF8006-2130-4C4B-83CD-C5922F69BF34/4433/BROCHUREVERSION3.pdf
2.
Agence France Presse (2003) ‘Speakers Shy Away from Singapore’s “Free Speech” Corner’, Agence France Presse, URL (consulted August 2003): http://www.singaporewindow.org/sw03/030615af.htm
3.
Alegret, J. (1998) Politics and Economy: Corporativism and Democratic Participation in the Fishermen’s Confraries in Catalonia. Girona: University of Girona .
4.
Caldow, J. (2002) ‘Seven E-government Milestones’, in E. Milner (ed.) Delivering the Vision: Public Services for the Information Society and the Knowledge Economy, pp. 17-35. London: Routledge .
5.
Chua, B. H. (1995) Communitarian Ideology and Democracy in Singapore. London: Routledge .
6.
Dutta, S. , B. Lanvin and F. Paua (eds) (2003) The Global Information Technology Report 2002-2003: Readiness for the Networked World. New York: Oxford University Press .
7.
Frank, T. (2001) ‘All Good No Bad’, ThinkCentre, URL (consulted November 2003): http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=532
8.
Garfinkle, N. (nd) ‘A Message from the Institute Chairman’, The Communitarian Network, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eicps/about.html
9.
George, C. (2000) Singapore: The Air Conditioned Nation. Singapore: Landmark Books .
10.
Goh, S. H. (2002) ‘Singapore’s Policy Approach to Information Communication Technology’, in D. Seng (ed.) The Impact of the Regulatory Framework on E-commerce in Singapore, pp. 1-37. Singapore: Singapore Academy of Law .
11.
Government of Singapore (2004a) ‘E-citizen’, URL (consulted 5 September 2003): http://www.ecitizen.gov.sg/
12.
Government of Singapore (2004b) ‘business.gov.sg’, Singapore E-government to Business, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www.business.gov.sg/
13.
Grunig, J. E. and J. White (1992) ‘The Effect of Worldviews on Public Relations’, in J. E. Grunig (ed.) Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management, pp. 31-64. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates .
14.
Hamlin, K. (2002) ‘Keeping the Inc. in Singapore Inc.’, URL (consulted May 2002): http://www.singapore-window.org/sw02/020607r2.htm
15.
Ho, K. L. (2000) The Politics of Policy-making in Singapore. Singapore: Oxford University Press .
16.
Holliday, I. (2002) ‘Building E-government in East and Southeast Asia: Regional Rhetoric and National (In)action’ , Public Administration and Development22(4): 323-335 .
17.
Holmes, D. (2001) E-gov: E-business Strategies for Government. Naperville, IL: Nicholas Brealey Publishers .
18.
Infocomm Development Authority (2004a) ‘E-celebrations 2004’, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www.ecelebrations.gov.sgInfocomm
19.
Development Authority (2004b) ‘The Singapore E-government Website’, Singapore E-government, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www.egov.gov.sg
20.
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (2001) ‘Effective Regulation Case Study: Singapore’, URL (consulted September 2003): http://www.itu.int/itudoc/itu-d/publicat/sgp_c_st.html
21.
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) (2002) ‘Trends in Telecommunications Reform’, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www.itu.int/publications/docs/trends2002.html
22.
Ke, W. and K. Wei (2004) ‘Successful E-government in Singapore: How Did Singapore Manage to Get Most of its Public Services Deliverable Online?’ , Communications of the ACM47(6): 95-99 .
23.
Kettl, D. (2002) The Transformation of Governance. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press .
24.
Kuhn, T. (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press .
25.
Lanvin, B. (2003) ‘Leaders and Facilitators: The New Roles of Governments in Digital Economies’, in S. Dutta , B. Lanvin and F. Paua (eds) Global Information Technology Report 2002-2003: Readiness for the Networked World, pp. 74-85. New York: Oxford University Press .
26.
Lee, H. L. (2004) ‘Our Future of Opportunity and Promise’, Singapore Press Releases on the Internet, URL (consulted September 2004): http://stars.nhb.gov.sg/public/index.html
27.
Lim, C. (1994) ‘The Great Affective Divide’ , Straits Times, 20 November.
28.
Lim, D. (2000) ‘Dissent Reflects a Society Alive to S 21’ , Straits Times, 31 August, URL (consulted September 2004): http://www.singapore21.org.sg/debate3.html
29.
Lim, R. (2004) ‘Value of Consultation’ , Feedback News, URL (consulted December 2004): http://app.feedback.gov.sg/asp/new/new0001.asp?id=541
30.
Lok, D. and K. Seow (2004) ‘Letter to the Editor: Want to Hear the Silent Majority? Let Them Assemble’ , Straits Times, 10 September: 22-22 .
31.
Ministry of Community Development , Youth and Sports (2004) ‘Your Opinion Counts’, Singapore Government Feedback, URL (consulted December 2004): http://app.feedback.gov.sg/asp/index.asp
32.
Ministry of Finance (nd) ‘Cut Waste’, URL (consulted September 2003): http://www.cutwaste.mof.gov.sg
33.
Ministry of Finance (2004) ‘What’s New’, URL (consulted September 2003): http://app.mof.gov.sg/index.asp
34.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2003) ‘The e-Government Imperative’, OECD E-government Studies, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/egov/E-GovernmentImperative.pdf
35.
Pekkarinen, J. , M. Pohjola and B. Rowthorn (1992) ‘Social Corporatism and Economic Performance: Introduction and Conclusions’, in J. Pekkarinen , M. Pohjola and B. Rowthorn (eds) Social Corporatism, pp. 1-23. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
36.
Rawl, J. (1971) A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
Riley, T. B. (2003) ‘E-government vs. E-governance: Examining the Differences in a Changing Public Sector Climate’, International Tracking Survey Report 2003, No. 4, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www.rileyis.com/publications/research_papers/tracking03/IntlTrackRptMay03no4.pdf
39.
Schwab, K. (2005) ‘Global Information Technology Report, 2004-05’, URL (consulted 6 April 2005): http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programmepercent5CGlobal+Information+Technology+Report
40.
Singapore 21 Committee (2004) ‘What Is Singapore 21?’, Singapore 21 Report, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www.singapore21.org.sg/menu_flash.html
41.
Singapore Department of Statistics (2000) http://www.singstat.gov.sg/keystats/keystats.html
42.
Teulings, C. and J. Hartog (1998) ‘Wages and Labour Market Institutions in International Comparison’, in I. Ohashi and T. Tachibanaki (eds) Internal Labour Markets, Incentives and Employment, pp. 19-48. New York: St Martin’s Press .
43.
The Communitarian Network (nd) ‘For Individual Rights and Social Responsibility’, The Communitarian Network, URL (consulted December 2004): http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eccps/platformtext.html
44.
Therborn, G. (1992) ‘Lessons from ‘Corporatist’ Theorizations’, in J. Pehharinen , M. Phjola and B. Rowthord (eds) Social Corporatism, pp. 24-44. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
45.
United Nations (2003) World Public Sector Report 2003: E-government at the Crossroads. New York: United Nations .
46.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2002) Human Development Report 2002: Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World. New York: United Nations .
47.
United States Chamber of Commerce (2003) ‘US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement’, URL (consulted October 2003): http://www.uschamber.com/issues/index/international/singapore.htm
48.
Veloo, R. (2002) ‘Speechless in Singapore’, Singaporeans for Democracy, URL (consulted August 2003): http://www.sfdonline.org/Linkpercent20Pages/Linkpercent20Folders/02Pf/weekend_today070902.html
49.
Yuen, C. K. (1999) ‘Leninism, Asian Culture and Singapore’, URL (consulted December 2004): www.comp.nus.edu.sg/%7Eyuenck/sing
