The government is led by a prime minister and cabinet formed by the party that controls Parliament. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of the PAP has been in power since 2004. While polling-day procedures are generally free of irregularities, numerous structural factors that favor the PAP impede viable electoral competition.

The president, whose role is largely ceremonial, is elected by popular vote for six-year terms, and a special committee is empowered to vet candidates. None of Singapore’s three main ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays, and Indians or others) may be excluded from the presidency for more than five consecutive terms, and presidential candidates from the private sector, as opposed to senior officials with at least three years of service, must have experience leading a company with at least S$500 million (US$370 million) in shareholder equity. In September 2023, former deputy prime minister and PAP stalwart Tharman Shanmugaratnam was elected to the office with 70.4 percent of the vote. He defeated two prominent businessmen, Ng Kok Song and Tan Kin Lian, who received 16 percent and 14 percent, respectively, in the country’s first contested presidential election in more than a decade.

Following a March 2020 recommendation by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), the number of directly elected seats in the unicameral Parliament was increased from 89 to 93. The Parliament elected that July consequently included 14 members from single-member constituencies and 79 members from Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs). The top-polling party in each GRC wins all of its four to five seats, which has historically bolstered the PAP’s majority. As many as nine additional, nonpartisan members can be appointed by the president, and a maximum of another 12 can come from a national compensatory list meant to ensure a minimum of opposition representation. Members serve five-year terms, with the exception of appointed members, who serve for two and a half years.

In the 2020 elections, the PAP secured 61.2 percent of the popular vote and 83 of the 93 directly elected seats. The largest opposition group, the Workers’ Party, won 10 seats and received 2 compensatory seats to achieve the minimum of 12 for the opposition.

Elections are largely free of fraud or other irregularities but are unfair due to the advantages enjoyed by the PAP, including a progovernment media sector, the GRC system, high financial barriers to electoral candidacy, and legal restrictions on free speech.

Singapore lacks an independent election commission; the country’s Elections Department (ELD) is a government body attached to the Prime Minister’s Office. The secretary to the prime minister is the head of the EBRC, which reviews and redraws constituency boundaries. The PAP-controlled boundaries process has historically ensured an advantage for the party. The electoral districts for the 2020 elections were announced in mid-March, just four months before the polls were held. The electoral framework suffers from other flaws—including the GRC system and the onerous eligibility rules for presidential candidates—that favor the PAP-dominated political establishment.

Singapore has a multiparty political system, and 11 parties contested the 2020 parliamentary elections. However, a variety of factors have helped to ensure the PAP’s dominant position, including an electoral framework that favors incumbents, restrictions on political films and television programs, the threat of defamation suits, the PAP’s vastly larger financial resources, and its influence over the mass media and the courts.

The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA)—which allows any government minister to order correction notices or restrict access to content they deem false or contrary to the public interest—was repeatedly invoked to require corrections regarding comments by opposition candidates during the 2020 campaign period.

The PAP has governed without interruption since 1959; changes in the country’s leadership generally arises from shifts within the ruling party. Finance Minister Lawrence Wong was promoted to deputy prime minister in 2022, and Prime Minister Lee said in November 2023 that he planned to hand power to Wong before the next general elections.

The opposition has recently mounted stronger election campaigns than in the past. Opposition factions collectively put forward candidates for all directly elected Parliament seats in 2020, having done so for the first time in 2015, and ultimately gained four.

The corporatist structure of the economy creates dense ties between business and political elites that have been criticized as oligarchic in nature. These networks contribute to the PAP’s political dominance.

Many senior government officials formerly served as military officers, and the military has a close relationship with the PAP, but it does not directly engage in politics.

Ethnic Chinese Singaporeans make up a majority of the population. Citizens who belong to minority groups, including Malays and people of Indian descent, have full voting rights, but critics—including academics and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—have questioned whether the GRC system achieves its stated aim of ensuring minority representation. Malays are generally underrepresented in leadership positions.

Women remain underrepresented in senior government and political positions, though women candidates won 27 of the 93 directly elected parliamentary seats in 2020, up from 21 out of 89 in 2015. A woman served as president from 2017 to September 2023. Groups that advance the interests of LGBT+ people are able to operate but have no vocal parliamentary representation. LGBT+ people experience discrimination in practice and thus face barriers to open electoral participation.

Elected officials determine the government’s policies, but the PAP’s political and institutional dominance ensures its victory at the polls, and the party leadership maintains discipline among its members. The constitution stipulates that lawmakers lose their seats if they resign or are expelled from the party for which they stood in elections, inhibiting Parliament’s ability to serve as an effective check on the executive.

Singapore has been lauded for its lack of bribery and corruption. However, its corporatist economic structure entails close collaboration between the public and private sectors that may produce conflicts of interest. Lawmakers often serve on the boards of private companies: for example, Ho Ching, Prime Minister Lee’s wife, served as chief executive of Temasek Holdings, a government-linked corporation and sovereign wealth fund, for 17 years. After leaving her position in 2021, Ho joined the board of the Temasek Trust, the corporation’s philanthropic arm.

In July 2023, Transport Minister S. Iswaran was arrested and released on bail as part of a probe by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau that also targeted billionaire property tycoon Ong Beng Seng. The minister took a leave of absence from his government post. While the bureau did not immediately release details on the case, formal charges were pending at year’s end.

The government provides limited transparency on its operations. The Singapore Public Sector Outcomes Review is published every two years and includes metrics on the functioning of the bureaucracy; regular audits of public-sector financial processes are also made accessible to the public. However, other data, including key information on the status of the national reserves, are not made publicly available, and there is no freedom of information law giving citizens the right to obtain government records.

The activities and salary of Ho Ching in her role at Temasek Holdings, and subsequently as a board member of Temasek Trust, have been nontransparent and a point of controversy.

All domestic newspapers, radio stations, and television channels are owned by government-linked companies. Editorials and news coverage generally support state policies, and self-censorship is common, though newspapers occasionally publish critical content. The government uses racial or religious tensions and the threat of terrorism to justify restrictions on freedom of speech. Media outlets, bloggers, and public figures have been subjected to harsh civil and criminal penalties for speech deemed to be seditious, defamatory, or injurious to religious sensitivities. Major online news sites must obtain licenses and respond to regulators’ requests to remove prohibited content. However, foreign media and a growing array of online domestic outlets—including news sites and blogs—are widely consumed and offer alternative views.

Independent journalists and outlets face the threat of lawsuits and criminal charges. For example, chief editor Terry Xu of The Online Citizen—an outlet that operates from abroad after being shut down by Singaporean regulators in 2021—was sentenced to three weeks in jail on defamation charges in 2022 for publishing a 2018 letter by Daniel De Costa Augustin that alleged corruption among government ministers; De Costa also received jail time. After an appeal, their sentences were replaced by fines in May 2023.

The constitution guarantees freedom of religion if its practice does not violate any other regulations, and most groups worship freely. However, religious actions perceived as threats to racial or religious harmony are not tolerated, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Unification Church are banned. Religious groups are required to register with the government under the 1966 Societies Act.

Muslim religious teachers must be certified by the Asatizah Recognition Board, a body of religious scholars under the purview of the state’s Islamic Religious Council of Singapore. The system is seen as an effort to ensure that only state-approved forms of Islam are taught.

Public schools include a national education component that has been criticized for presenting a history of Singapore that focuses excessively on the role of the PAP. All public universities and political research institutions have direct government links that enable political influence and interference in hiring and firing. Self-censorship on Singapore-related topics is common among academics, who can face legal and career consequences for critical speech.

While there is some space for personal expression and private discussion, legal restrictions on topics that involve race and religion constrain dialogue. The threat of defamation suits and related charges are also deterrents to free speech, including on social media. A 2019 ruling effectively allowed defamation charges for criticism of the government in general.

POFMA provides for criminal penalties including fines and up to a year in prison for failure to comply with removal or correction orders. POFMA has been invoked against opposition figures, activists, and social media users.

Online expression is also affected by the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA), which allows the home affairs minister to remove online content. Internet service providers and social media operators can be compelled to turn over information on their users under FICA, and access to applications can be restricted.

In July 2023, Parliament passed the Online Criminal Harms Act (OCHA), which gives the government further discretion to restrict online accounts or content related to criminal activity, including speech that is deemed a threat to social harmony.

Public assemblies are subject to extensive restrictions under the 2017 amended Public Order Act (POA). Police permits are required for assemblies that occur outdoors; limited restrictions apply to indoor gatherings. Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park is the designated site for open assembly, though events there can likewise be restricted if they are deemed disruptive. Non-Singaporeans are generally prohibited from participating in or attending public assemblies that are considered political or sensitive. Authorities have punished activists with fines or jail time for holding unauthorized events, including even solitary protests.

The Public Order and Safety (Special Powers) Act of 2018 granted the home affairs minister and police enhanced authority in the context of a vaguely defined “serious incident,” which could include scenarios ranging from terrorist attacks to peaceful protests. Officials would be permitted to potentially use lethal force and to halt newsgathering and online communications in the affected area. The special powers could be invoked in advance of a likely or threatened incident.

The Societies Act requires most organizations of more than 10 people to register with the government; the government enjoys full discretion to register or dissolve such groups. Only registered parties and associations may participate in organized political activity. Under FICA, organizations that are designated as “politically significant” are obligated to disclose foreign funding. Despite these restrictions, some NGOs engage in human rights activism and governance-related work, advocating policy improvements and addressing the interests of constituencies including migrant workers and women.

Prominent activists are subject to police questioning, criminal charges, civil lawsuits, and other forms of harassment in reprisal for their work. In March 2023, human rights lawyer and death penalty opponent Ravi Madasamy had his license suspended for five years after criticizing the attorney general, and in November he was sentenced to 21 days in jail for contempt of court.

Unions are granted some rights under the Trade Unions Act, though restrictions include a ban on government employees joining unions. Union members are prohibited from voting on collective agreements negotiated by union representatives and employers. Strikes must be approved by a majority of members, as opposed to the internationally accepted standard of at least 50 percent of the members who vote. Workers in essential services are required to give 14 days’ notice to an employer before striking. In practice, many restrictions are not applied. Nearly all unions are affiliated with the National Trade Union Congress, which is openly allied with the PAP.

The country’s top judges are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. The government’s consistent success in court cases that have direct implications for its agenda has cast serious doubt on judicial independence. The problem is particularly evident in defamation cases and lawsuits against government opponents. While judgments against the government are rare, the judiciary is perceived to act more professionally and impartially in business-related cases, which has helped to make the country an attractive venue for investment and commerce.

Defendants in criminal cases enjoy most due process rights; political interference does not occur in a large majority of cases. However, the colonial-era Internal Security Act (ISA) allows warrantless searches and arrests to preserve national security. ISA detainees can be held without charge or trial for two-year periods that can be renewed indefinitely. In recent years it has primarily been used against suspected Islamist militants. The Criminal Law Act, which is mainly used against suspected members of organized crime groups, similarly allows warrantless arrest and preventive detention for renewable one-year periods. The Misuse of Drugs Act empowers authorities to commit suspected drug users, without trial, to rehabilitation centers for up to three years.

Singaporeans are largely protected against the illegitimate use of force and are not directly exposed to war or insurgencies. Prisons generally meet international standards. However, the penal code mandates corporal punishment in the form of caning, in addition to imprisonment, for about 30 offenses, and it can also be used as a disciplinary measure in prisons.

Singapore authorities continue to impose the death penalty for crimes including murder and drug trafficking. Five executions were reported during 2023, including the July hanging of a woman convicted on drug-trafficking charges. That incident was the country’s first execution of a woman since 2004.

The law forbids ethnic discrimination, though the problem persists in private and public-sector employment. Women enjoy the same legal rights as men on most issues, and many are well-educated professionals, but there is no legal ban on gender-based discrimination in employment. A 2022 survey by the gender equality group AWARE and the consumer research company Milleu Insight found that one in two people in Singapore had experienced workplace discrimination; cases involving race were the most common, followed by age and gender.

The LGBT+ community faces significant legal obstacles and discriminatory attitudes. In 2022, Parliament voted to repeal a decades-old law that criminalized same-sex sexual relations, but there are no explicit legal safeguards against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

There is no provision in Singaporean law for granting asylum or refugee status, and the government refuses to offer such protections.

Citizens enjoy freedom of movement and the ability to change their place of employment. Policies aimed at fostering ethnic balance in subsidized public housing, in which most Singaporeans live, entail some restrictions on place of residence, but these do not apply to open-market housing.

There were discriminatory limits on freedom of movement for foreign migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, but restrictions on such workers’ ability to leave their dormitories were gradually lifted through 2022, and in early 2023 a government minister said the few remaining rules were no longer enforced in practice.

Score Change: The score improved from 2 to 3 because COVID-19-related restrictions on the movement of migrant workers have been lifted.

Individuals face no extensive restrictions on property ownership, though public housing units are technically issued on 99-year leases rather than owned outright. While the state is heavily involved in the economy through its investment funds and other assets, private business activity is generally facilitated by a supportive legal framework.

Men and women generally have equal rights on personal status matters such as marriage and divorce, though same-sex marriage and civil unions are not recognized. Parliament adopted a constitutional amendment in 2022 to officially define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Social pressures deter some interreligious marriages and exert influence on personal appearance. Spousal immunity from rape charges was eliminated through a 2019 penal code amendment.

Singapore’s inhabitants generally benefit from considerable economic opportunity, but some workers face disadvantages. The country’s roughly 270,000 migrant domestic workers are excluded from the Employment Act and are regularly exploited. Illegal practices such as passport confiscation by employers remain common methods of coercion, and foreign workers are vulnerable to exploitation and debt bondage in the sex trade or industries including construction and manufacturing.