This chart is used for explaining Singaporean economic and political model with comparison to Anglo-Saxon style free market model with a small government and European social democratic welfare state model with a big government. Also, the idealistic world view created by European classical idealism is briefly introduced as an opposing side of the Singaporean model.
The vertical axis scales how big a government is in a model. Bigger government implies a central government role is significant to intervenue into economic and social issues and to administrate a huge scale of public sector. By contrast, smaller government implies government role is limitted for intervening into economic and social issues and more likely to let private enterprises and voluntary will of indivuals to look after public goods and services.
The holizontal axis scales the attitude toward equality. The right side puts priority on taking inequality for granted as a mean of promoting meritocracy stimulating a high aggregate productivity under an elitist socioeconomic structure. The left side puts priority on more egalitarian values where socioeconomic inequality is minimised with a high effort.
The modern Western politics tends to focus on the one dimensional spectrum based on the conflicting view between the European social democratic model regarding highly of a relatively egaritarian policy with a generous welfare state programmes and the Anglo-Saxon style free market economy promoting meritorcratic competition and optimising the productivity level under competition. The former has a relatively less confidence on entirely letting private individuals and market handling economy and social policy with their voluntary will and a relatively stronger confidence on relying on a government role looking after public. The latter has a strong condidence on a free market and private individuals in it voluntarily looking after both themselves and the others and is sceptical about government roll of intervening it.
Singaporean politics is so unique that it combines both a big government looking after a nation like the European welfare state model and a free market economy and meritorcacy like the Anglo-Saxon model. Singaporean model has a strong confidence on both a powerful government intervention and a voluntary force of free market and private individuals. The big goverment roll provides the public safety backed up by the strong law enforcement, the guardianship of harmonising citizens with multiculturalism and public education programme, and well-developed healthcare services. However, the big government of Singapore does not disrupt free market competitions based on free voluntary will of individuals and corporation, and it actually encourages it enough to establish such a strong meritorcratic socioeconomic structure accomplishing a miracle economic growth.
On the other hand, Singaporean model has some negative feedbacks from some endogenous citizens frustrated by the socioeconomic poliitcal system. Singaporean model applies the pragmatic attitude of adapting any existing socioeconomic policies not being constrained by ideologistic politics, and its utilitarianistic realism merely focuses on the national well-being as a hole. So, the rapid economic growth and the public safety are exaggerated meanwhile the frustration of relatively poor individuals and minority's view points tend to be overlooked.
Singaporean model is far from the classical idealism described by various European philosophical theories which aspires to invent an alternative which is not yet established but worth to attempt to establish. Producing an eccentric genius inventor like someone obtaining a Nobel prize is not a priority for Singapore. Although the voluntary will of individual is highly admired there, an individual sovereignty and her/his uniqueness are relatively more disregarded than strengthening the aggregate strength of a nation.
Overall, this comparison demonstrates more than one pathway of promoting small/big government and meritocracy/egaritarian policy. Singaporean model is refered to as an example of implimenting a unique pragmatical perspective policy as a successful and yet controversial example.
