Evolution of a Revolution: Forty Years of the Singapore Constitution

Between 1965 and 2005, changes to Singapore's Constitution were so tremendous as to amount to a revolution. These developments are comprehensively discussed and critically examined for the first time in this edited volume. With its momentous secession from the Federation of Malaysia in 1965, Singapore had the perfect opportunity to craft a popularly-endorsed constitution. Instead, it retained the 1958 State Constitution and augmented it with provisions from the Malaysian Federal Constitution. This decision in favour of stability and gradual change belied the revolutionary changes to Singapore's Constitution over the next 40 years, transforming its erstwhile Westminster-style constitution into something quite unique. The Government's overriding concern with ensuring stability, public order, Asian values and communitarian politics, are not without their setbacks or critics. This collection strives to enrich our understanding of the historical antecedents of the current Constitution and offers a timely retrospective assessment of how history, politics and economics have shaped the Constitution. It is the first collaborative effort by a group of Singapore constitutional law scholars and will be of interest to students and academics from a range of disciplines, including comparative constitutional law, political science, government and Asian studies. Law/Asian Law/SingaporeEvolution of a Revolution: Forty Years of the Singapore Constitution, 1 was published 2009 under ISBN 9780415438629 and ISBN 0415438624.