Perceived Threats and Governing Capacity

Abstract

Many of the past literature on small states focus on the foreign policies and political economies of liberal democracies. This paper examines the non-liberal democracies of Singapore and Macao in their construction of national identities. Non-liberal democracies are different from their democratic counterparts in their reactions to perceived threats. Instead of forming a corporatist system to make important decisions by consensus, both Singapore and Macao leadership exclude the participation of civil society in defining their national identities. Faced with high perceived threats and armed with strong governing capacity, Singapore succeeds in building a national identity overarching the cultural identities of major ethnic groups. In view of electoral setbacks, Singapore leaders have to include more public inputs into its policy making process, including the definition of national identity. On the contrary, the perceived threats of Macao are not pressing. The cultural and political affinity enables the post-colonial Macao to integrate smoothly with China's national identities defined by the Communist leadership. The relative weak capacity of the city government makes the building of national identities gradual. Its high degree of ethnic homogeneity has contributed to a process of nation building relatively free of disputes.