PROBLEMS OF ELITE COHESION : A PERSPECTIVE FROM A MINORITY COMMUNITY

Abstract

Communalism poses a serious obstacle to the stability of many newly independent countries. A pre-condition for stability in such polities is the presence of some form of elite cohesion. Elite cohesion is defined as the ability of the political elites of the various communal groups in a polity to work together to maintain the political system. A distinction is made between two models of elite cohesion; unified and pluralistic. This study focuses on the problems of elite cohesion as seen from the perspective of the Malay minority community of Singapore, How can Malay leaders cooperate with the leaders of the other communities and yet gain the support of their own community? There are four main factors which can affect this problem; the nature of community identity, the nature of leadership structure, the nature of national policies and the characteristic elite-mass relationship. In the unified, form of elite cohesion as exemplified by the People's Action Party, the Malays in the PAP face little difficulties in cooperating with the other non-Malay leaders. However, it is more difficult for them to retain or to gain the support of their own community. This problem is aggravated as the Malay minority community is rather distinctive and comparatively more backward than the other communities in socio-economic terms. This has led the Malay community to demand special concessions which are difficult to obtain. Hence, if national policies do not contain any special recognition of the problems of the Malay community, they will be perceived as rather unfavourable by the latter. Dissatisfactions with national policies are however well contained since the Malay minority community lacks strong core leadership. This study concludes that the success of this form of elite cohesion in bringing about the integrative revolution depends to a large extent on the nature of national policies. Favourable policies will enable the national leadership to gain the support of the minority community. This will enhance the position of the cooperative minority leaders and hence increase their ability to exercise influence over their own community.