Advantages and Disadvantages of One Party Rule

Advantages

-more unity in government

-things can be done faster as there is no competition of interests

-All MPs have the same rights

Disadvantages

-lack of representation, no one to counter argue decisions made 

-less variety of ideas

-no democracy

Countries under one party rule

Cuba, North Korea, Iraq, China

Singapore: Multi Party System (slightly towards dominant party system)

Since the day Singapore officially gaining sovereignty on 9 August 1965, its politics has been dominated by the People’s Action Party (PAP). The PAP has been in government and won every General Election since then. 

However, there are some people who think that Singapore should have a one-party rule as they believe a two-party system is not workable for a small country like Singapore, and that a one party system can help steer the country in one direction. For example, in the 2012 budget debate, politicians challenge each other on their said comments, accusing them of making allegations that discredit their opponents. Thus, this shows that a two-party system will be detrimental as politicians will fail to work on crucial issues of making good policies for the country.

Despite so, there are people who are willing to accept the two-party system. This is because they feel that a single-party government made up of politicians who are out of touch with the ordinary citizens. Thus politicians are unable to actually listen to them and address their needs. Therefore, they believe that two-party system can actually help solve this problem through introducing competition and forcing the politicians to step out of their comfort zone, and start engaging with the citizens of the community.

Chan Ling Han (2)

2E