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Hong Kong's Stunted Political Party System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2003

Lau Siu-kai  and
Kuan Hsin-chi
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Abstract

Hong Kong's political parties are now in decline after the return of the former British colony to China. The decline of political parties stands out in stark relief in a context featuring “Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong” and gradual democratization. A major reason for the decline is the stunted political party system of Hong Kong. Prominent in that stunted system is the absence of a ruling party. The stunted party system is primarily the result of Beijing's antipathy towards party politics in Hong Kong, which in turn discourages party formation by the Hong Kong government and the conservative elites. The lack of incentives for the business elites to organize political parties to protect their interests is another major reason. The stunted party system has produced serious adverse consequences for the governance of Hong Kong, representation of interests, public attitudes towards the political class and the further democratization of the territory.

Type
Research Report
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 172 , December 2002 , pp. 1010 - 1028
Copyright
© The China Quarterly, 2002

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Footnotes

This article is based on a research project entitled “Learning, electoral behaviour and democratization in Hong Kong.” The project is generously funded by the Research Grants Council of the Universities Grants Committee (CUHK4359/00H) and is under the auspices of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. We are grateful to Ms Wan Po-san, Research Officer of the Institute, for rendering assistance to the project in many respects. Special thanks are due to our research assistants, Mr Yip Tin-sang and Mr Yiu Chuen-lai, for their help in administering the questionnaire survey and in data preparation.