Singapore’s Social Contract Trilemma

The last 50 years of nation building has firmly established Singapore as a globally competitive and highly successful economy and city-state with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Singapore has achieved a prosperity undreamed of by its founders. How successfully Singapore can evolve into a fully developed nation, with a firm sense of national belonging, social cohesion, political legitimacy and participation—and not just a strong and successful developmental state—will depend on the extent to which the country is able to translate this success to broader social protection and democratic participation for her people, and the extent to which the country is able to forge a common national identity.