Lee Kuan Yew: from political insurgent to national manager

This study of Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership focuses on the 1950s-1970s, when his political career was a work in progress, and the prospect of failure was either a real-time fear or a recent memory. His record in this period allows us to observe him operating without the crutch of having sufficient power to act on a whim. In the more sedate and stable post-1970s period, Lee tried to institutionalise a radically different vision of political and managerial leadership that was professional, technocratic, and quiescent. This experiment arguably met with considerable success in the civil service, government-linked companies, and the military, but it has not worked so well in politics proper.