Netina Tan
Biographic Data
| ID | 734286 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Netina Tan |
| GIVEN NAMES | Netina |
| FAMILY NAME | Tan |
| SIGNATURE | TAN N |
| AFFILIATIONS | McMaster University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0082-0335 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 128 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Routledge Handbook of Autocratization in Southeast Asia
Peer-reviewed
Gerrymandering and its Effects in Singapore's 2025 General Elections
Singapore experienced extensive electoral redistricting six weeks before polling day on May 3, 2025. Were the electoral boundary changes "gerrymandering in plain sight" as claimed by an opposition leader? And if so, did the People's Action Party (PAP) benefit from the redistricting and malapportionment to maintain its legislative supermajority? This critical perspective finds that gerrymandering methods such as "packing," "cracking," and "stackin…
Introduction
This introduction to the special issue highlights the key findings and implications of democratic backsliding in Southeast Asia. It begins with an overview of the region's democratic landscape using the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset and compares the patterns and modes of backsliding in six selected cases. Collectively, the articles suggest the importance of unpacking regime components and the growing attitudinal elite-mass gap in analyzi…
Democratic backsliding in illiberal Singapore
Singapore is a well-known illiberal democracy, ruled by one party, the People's Action Party (PAP), uninterruptedly since 1959. The rise of disinformation, the leadership succession crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have posed challenges to the ruling party's technocratic, ‘soft-authoritarian’ governance style. Is it business as usual in Singapore? Or has its democracy backslid like its regional neighbours? Drawing on an established index of accou…
Introduction
Ethnic Quotas, Political Representation and Equity in Asia Pacific
Do quotas raise legislative diversity and reduce inequities between the dominant and minority groups? This paper studies how quota mechanisms affect legislative diversity in 11 countries in Asia Pacific and ethnic equity between groups in three cases. We find that quota mechanisms have improved legislative diversity. However, the socio-economic status of targeted minority groups continues to lag behind the dominant group in each case presented. O…
Introduction
This article introduces the special issue and places the eight contributions in context. It offers a discussion of the key terms and highlights the contributions of the articles for forging new research agendas on ethnic inclusion and political representation. Drawing from cases from the Asia Pacific, Americas and Europe, this special collection of papers investigates the effects and practices of electoral designs on the descriptive and substanti…
Factionalism in Southeast Asia
In this article we present an overview of the arguments contained in the articles of this special issue. We first catalogue the varieties or types of factionalism present across Southeast Asia—namely, programmatic, clientelistic, and personalist/charismatic. We then explore the question of why the degree and type of factionalism varies across countries, across time, and across parties. We first focus on differences between factionalism in governi…
Minimal Factionalism in Singapore’s People’s Action Party
Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) is one of the longest ruling parties in the world. The PAP’s ability to avoid overt factionalism over the years is exceptional, especially compared to the region’s personalistic or cadre parties. In recent years, the defection of former PAP cadre Dr. Tan Cheng Bock and the formation of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and PM Lee Hsien Loong’s family rivalry, which involved PAP elites, have challenged the …
Electoral System, Ethnic Parties, and Party System Stability in Myanmar
Digital learning and extending electoral authoritarianism in Singapore
This study demonstrates how a hegemonic party learns from its early missteps to become an adept social media user, competing and expanding its digital influence. Singapore's long-standing People's Action Party (PAP) government has extended existing laws and co-opted social media as an information tool to shape public opinion and repress dissent. Its digital innovations include hiring social media consultants, "Internet Brigade" and "influencers" …
Electoral rules and manufacturing legislative supermajority
Electoral authoritarian regimes usually preserve the dominance of the ruling party through electoral fraud, violence and intimidation. This paper focuses on the subtler forms of manipulation that undermine the electoral integrity and democratic outcomes. Specifically, we examine how an unusual electoral rule, involving multimember districts elected through plurality bloc voting for party slates, exaggerates the legislative seat shares of the Peop…
Gender Reforms, Electoral Quotas, and Women's Political Representation in Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore
Why Are Gender Reforms Adopted in Singapore? Party Pragmatism and Electoral Incentives
Party Quotas and Rising Women Politicians in Singapore
Women were severely underrepresented in Singapore's early politics. From 1970 to 1984, not a single female member was found in the Parliament. Unlike the experiences of Taiwan and South Korea in this issue, the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) of Singapore faced no similar pressure from the opposition parties or feminist groups to adopt gender quotas to “fast track” women into politics (Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2005). Yet, the total number of w…
Introduction
In convergence with the global norm toward more proportional representative electoral systems, many countries in East Asia have adopted quota strategies to address women's political underrepresentation (Franceschet, Krook, and Piscopo 2012; Krook 2009). Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan provide ideal case studies to investigate the impact of these efforts. While these countries share similar economic development, educational levels, and C…
Ethnic quotas and unintended effects on women’s political representation in Singapore
This article examines the effects of ethnic quotas on women’s political representation in Singapore. The 1988 electoral reform requires at least one minority ethnic candidate to be fielded in the multimember constituencies based on the party list plurality bloc vote system. Based on elite interviews, party publications and electoral data, this article argues that the increases in the district magnitude of the multimember constituencies have had t…
The 2011 general and presidential elections in Singapore
Manipulating electoral laws in Singapore
Manipulating electoral laws in Singapore
Ethnic quotas and unintended effects on women’s political representation in Singapore
This article examines the effects of ethnic quotas on women’s political representation in Singapore. The 1988 electoral reform requires at least one minority ethnic candidate to be fielded in the multimember constituencies based on the party list plurality bloc vote system. Based on elite interviews, party publications and electoral data, this article argues that the increases in the district magnitude of the multimember constituencies have had t…
Party Quotas and Rising Women Politicians in Singapore
Women were severely underrepresented in Singapore's early politics. From 1970 to 1984, not a single female member was found in the Parliament. Unlike the experiences of Taiwan and South Korea in this issue, the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) of Singapore faced no similar pressure from the opposition parties or feminist groups to adopt gender quotas to “fast track” women into politics (Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2005). Yet, the total number of w…
Digital learning and extending electoral authoritarianism in Singapore
This study demonstrates how a hegemonic party learns from its early missteps to become an adept social media user, competing and expanding its digital influence. Singapore's long-standing People's Action Party (PAP) government has extended existing laws and co-opted social media as an information tool to shape public opinion and repress dissent. Its digital innovations include hiring social media consultants, "Internet Brigade" and "influencers" …
Electoral rules and manufacturing legislative supermajority
Electoral authoritarian regimes usually preserve the dominance of the ruling party through electoral fraud, violence and intimidation. This paper focuses on the subtler forms of manipulation that undermine the electoral integrity and democratic outcomes. Specifically, we examine how an unusual electoral rule, involving multimember districts elected through plurality bloc voting for party slates, exaggerates the legislative seat shares of the Peop…
Ethnic Quotas, Political Representation and Equity in Asia Pacific
Do quotas raise legislative diversity and reduce inequities between the dominant and minority groups? This paper studies how quota mechanisms affect legislative diversity in 11 countries in Asia Pacific and ethnic equity between groups in three cases. We find that quota mechanisms have improved legislative diversity. However, the socio-economic status of targeted minority groups continues to lag behind the dominant group in each case presented. O…
Gender Reforms, Electoral Quotas, and Women's Political Representation in Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore
The 2011 general and presidential elections in Singapore
Introduction
This introduction to the special issue highlights the key findings and implications of democratic backsliding in Southeast Asia. It begins with an overview of the region's democratic landscape using the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset and compares the patterns and modes of backsliding in six selected cases. Collectively, the articles suggest the importance of unpacking regime components and the growing attitudinal elite-mass gap in analyzi…
Democratic backsliding in illiberal Singapore
Singapore is a well-known illiberal democracy, ruled by one party, the People's Action Party (PAP), uninterruptedly since 1959. The rise of disinformation, the leadership succession crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have posed challenges to the ruling party's technocratic, ‘soft-authoritarian’ governance style. Is it business as usual in Singapore? Or has its democracy backslid like its regional neighbours? Drawing on an established index of accou…
Introduction
In convergence with the global norm toward more proportional representative electoral systems, many countries in East Asia have adopted quota strategies to address women's political underrepresentation (Franceschet, Krook, and Piscopo 2012; Krook 2009). Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan provide ideal case studies to investigate the impact of these efforts. While these countries share similar economic development, educational levels, and C…
Introduction
This article introduces the special issue and places the eight contributions in context. It offers a discussion of the key terms and highlights the contributions of the articles for forging new research agendas on ethnic inclusion and political representation. Drawing from cases from the Asia Pacific, Americas and Europe, this special collection of papers investigates the effects and practices of electoral designs on the descriptive and substanti…
Factionalism in Southeast Asia
In this article we present an overview of the arguments contained in the articles of this special issue. We first catalogue the varieties or types of factionalism present across Southeast Asia—namely, programmatic, clientelistic, and personalist/charismatic. We then explore the question of why the degree and type of factionalism varies across countries, across time, and across parties. We first focus on differences between factionalism in governi…
Minimal Factionalism in Singapore’s People’s Action Party
Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) is one of the longest ruling parties in the world. The PAP’s ability to avoid overt factionalism over the years is exceptional, especially compared to the region’s personalistic or cadre parties. In recent years, the defection of former PAP cadre Dr. Tan Cheng Bock and the formation of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and PM Lee Hsien Loong’s family rivalry, which involved PAP elites, have challenged the …
Electoral System, Ethnic Parties, and Party System Stability in Myanmar
Manipulating electoral laws in Singapore
Ethnic quotas and unintended effects on women’s political representation in Singapore
This article examines the effects of ethnic quotas on women’s political representation in Singapore. The 1988 electoral reform requires at least one minority ethnic candidate to be fielded in the multimember constituencies based on the party list plurality bloc vote system. Based on elite interviews, party publications and electoral data, this article argues that the increases in the district magnitude of the multimember constituencies have had t…
The 2011 general and presidential elections in Singapore
Party Quotas and Rising Women Politicians in Singapore
Women were severely underrepresented in Singapore's early politics. From 1970 to 1984, not a single female member was found in the Parliament. Unlike the experiences of Taiwan and South Korea in this issue, the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) of Singapore faced no similar pressure from the opposition parties or feminist groups to adopt gender quotas to “fast track” women into politics (Dahlerup and Freidenvall 2005). Yet, the total number of w…
Introduction
In convergence with the global norm toward more proportional representative electoral systems, many countries in East Asia have adopted quota strategies to address women's political underrepresentation (Franceschet, Krook, and Piscopo 2012; Krook 2009). Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan provide ideal case studies to investigate the impact of these efforts. While these countries share similar economic development, educational levels, and C…
Gender Reforms, Electoral Quotas, and Women's Political Representation in Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore
Why Are Gender Reforms Adopted in Singapore? Party Pragmatism and Electoral Incentives
Electoral rules and manufacturing legislative supermajority
Electoral authoritarian regimes usually preserve the dominance of the ruling party through electoral fraud, violence and intimidation. This paper focuses on the subtler forms of manipulation that undermine the electoral integrity and democratic outcomes. Specifically, we examine how an unusual electoral rule, involving multimember districts elected through plurality bloc voting for party slates, exaggerates the legislative seat shares of the Peop…
Factionalism in Southeast Asia
In this article we present an overview of the arguments contained in the articles of this special issue. We first catalogue the varieties or types of factionalism present across Southeast Asia—namely, programmatic, clientelistic, and personalist/charismatic. We then explore the question of why the degree and type of factionalism varies across countries, across time, and across parties. We first focus on differences between factionalism in governi…
Minimal Factionalism in Singapore’s People’s Action Party
Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) is one of the longest ruling parties in the world. The PAP’s ability to avoid overt factionalism over the years is exceptional, especially compared to the region’s personalistic or cadre parties. In recent years, the defection of former PAP cadre Dr. Tan Cheng Bock and the formation of the Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and PM Lee Hsien Loong’s family rivalry, which involved PAP elites, have challenged the …
Electoral System, Ethnic Parties, and Party System Stability in Myanmar
Digital learning and extending electoral authoritarianism in Singapore
This study demonstrates how a hegemonic party learns from its early missteps to become an adept social media user, competing and expanding its digital influence. Singapore's long-standing People's Action Party (PAP) government has extended existing laws and co-opted social media as an information tool to shape public opinion and repress dissent. Its digital innovations include hiring social media consultants, "Internet Brigade" and "influencers" …
Democratic backsliding in illiberal Singapore
Singapore is a well-known illiberal democracy, ruled by one party, the People's Action Party (PAP), uninterruptedly since 1959. The rise of disinformation, the leadership succession crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have posed challenges to the ruling party's technocratic, ‘soft-authoritarian’ governance style. Is it business as usual in Singapore? Or has its democracy backslid like its regional neighbours? Drawing on an established index of accou…
Introduction
Ethnic Quotas, Political Representation and Equity in Asia Pacific
Do quotas raise legislative diversity and reduce inequities between the dominant and minority groups? This paper studies how quota mechanisms affect legislative diversity in 11 countries in Asia Pacific and ethnic equity between groups in three cases. We find that quota mechanisms have improved legislative diversity. However, the socio-economic status of targeted minority groups continues to lag behind the dominant group in each case presented. O…
Introduction
This article introduces the special issue and places the eight contributions in context. It offers a discussion of the key terms and highlights the contributions of the articles for forging new research agendas on ethnic inclusion and political representation. Drawing from cases from the Asia Pacific, Americas and Europe, this special collection of papers investigates the effects and practices of electoral designs on the descriptive and substanti…
Introduction
This introduction to the special issue highlights the key findings and implications of democratic backsliding in Southeast Asia. It begins with an overview of the region's democratic landscape using the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) dataset and compares the patterns and modes of backsliding in six selected cases. Collectively, the articles suggest the importance of unpacking regime components and the growing attitudinal elite-mass gap in analyzi…
Routledge Handbook of Autocratization in Southeast Asia
Peer-reviewed
Gerrymandering and its Effects in Singapore's 2025 General Elections
Singapore experienced extensive electoral redistricting six weeks before polling day on May 3, 2025. Were the electoral boundary changes "gerrymandering in plain sight" as claimed by an opposition leader? And if so, did the People's Action Party (PAP) benefit from the redistricting and malapportionment to maintain its legislative supermajority? This critical perspective finds that gerrymandering methods such as "packing," "cracking," and "stackin…
Political science (18 works) · Law (17 works) · Political economy (17 works) · Politics (17 works) · Law (14 works) · Economics (13 works) · Democracy (12 works) · Socioeconomic Development in Asia (11 works) · Asian Studies and History (10 works) · Sociology (10 works)