Abstract
This paper seeks to examine why political parties in Hong Kong are fragmented and how the development of political parties in Hong Kong leads to social discord. Political parties started to emerge in Hong Kong in the 1980s. They had a golden opportunity to develop in the 1990s due to political reform, but why are political parties in Hong Kong still small, weak, with poor reputations and weak support? The author points out five factors that lead to the malfunction of political parties in Hong Kong. Although some factors are caused by the political parties themselves, the author argues that they are, all in all, constitutional or institutional factors, as they are long-term restraints directly set by the government since the colonial era. Due to the failure of party development in Hong Kong caused by constitutional and institutional restraints, the author will also discuss how this failure has lead to the political and social discord in the past two decades since the handover and the future.
References
Butenhoff, L., Social movements and political reform in Hong Kong (California: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999)Search in Google Scholar
Chan, M. K., China’s Hong Kong transformed: retrospect and prospects beyond the first decade (Hong Kong: City University Press, 2008)Search in Google Scholar
Chan, M. K., The Challenge of Hong Kong’s Reintegration with China: Modern Diasporic Femininity (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1997)Search in Google Scholar
Choy, C. K. and Lau, S. L., ‘The executive-legislative relations in Hong Kong before 1997’, Hong Kong Journal of Social Sciences, 8 (1996) pp. 237-66Search in Google Scholar
Choy, C. K., ‘Political parties and political participation in Hong Kong’, in Y. S. Lam, eds., Political participation in Hong Kong: Theoretical issues and historical legacy (Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press, 1999) pp. 121-48Search in Google Scholar
Choy, C. K., ‘The divisive effect of the proportional representation system: From inter-party competition to intra-party competition’, in H. C. Kuan, S. K. Lau, T. Wong, eds., Out of the shadow of 1997? The 2000 Legislative Council election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2002) pp. 99-123Search in Google Scholar
Chung, T. Y. (2014). Simple comments on local parties. Retrieved in April, 2018 from The University of Hong Kong, Public Opinion Programme: http://hkupop.hku.hk/english/columns/columns95.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (2017). Research reports. Retrieved in April, 2018 from http://www.dab.org.hk/page.php?t=7&st=7&mid=7,7,7Search in Google Scholar
Epstein, L., Political parties in western democracies (New Brunswick: Transaction Books, 1980)Search in Google Scholar
Fong, B. C., Hong Kong’s governance under Chinese sovereignty: The failure of the state-business alliance after 1997 (New York: Routledge, 2014)10.4324/9781315817477Search in Google Scholar
Gunther, R., and Diamond, L., ‘Species of political parties a new typology’, Party Politics, 9:2 (2003) pp. 167-99Search in Google Scholar
Hermans, F., Democracy or anarchy (New York: Johnson Reprint, 1970)Search in Google Scholar
Kreuzer, M, ‘Electoral mechanisms and electioneering incentives: Vote-getting strategies of Japanese, French, British, German and Austrian conservatives’, Party Politics, 6:4 (2000) pp. 487-504Search in Google Scholar
Kuan, H. C., and Lau, S. K., ‘Cognitive mobilization and electoral support for the Democratic Party in Hong Kong’, Electoral Studies, 21:4 (2002) pp. 561-82Search in Google Scholar
Kuan, H. C., Lau, S. K., Louie, K. S., and Wong, T. K. Y., Power transfer and electoral politics: the first legislative election in the Hong Kong special administrative region (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1999)Search in Google Scholar
Lam, W. M., Understanding the Political Culture of Hong Kong: The Paradox of Activism and Depoliticization (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2004)Search in Google Scholar
Lau, S. K., and Liu, Z., Society and politics in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1984)Search in Google Scholar
Leung, B., and Cheng, J., Hong Kong SAR: In pursuit of domestic and international order (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1997)Search in Google Scholar
Li, P. K., Political order and power transition in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1997)Search in Google Scholar
Lo, S. H., The politics of democratization in Hong Kong (New York: St Martin’s Press, 1997)10.1007/978-1-349-25467-5Search in Google Scholar
Loh, C., Functional Constituencies: A Unique Feature of the Hong Kong Legislative Council (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2006)Search in Google Scholar
Loh, C., Underground Front: The Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010)10.4000/chinaperspectives.5321Search in Google Scholar
Ma, N., ‘Factionalism in the Democratic Party and the 2000 election’, in H. C. Kuan, S. K. Lau, T. Wong, eds., Out of the shadow of 1997? The 2000 Legislative Council election in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2002) pp. 125-159Search in Google Scholar
Ma, N., ‘Political parties and elections’, in W. M. Lam, L. T. Liu, and W. Wong, eds., Contemporary Hong Kong government and politics (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012) pp. 159-17710.5790/hongkong/9789888139477.003.0008Search in Google Scholar
Ma, N., and Choy, C. K., ‘The impact of electoral rule change on party campaign strategy: Hong Kong as a case study’, Party Politics, 9:3 (2003) pp. 347-67Search in Google Scholar
Ma, N., Political development in Hong Kong: State, political society, and civil society (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2007)Search in Google Scholar
Raiklin, E., ‘On the Relevance of the Principal Programs of the Leading Post-Soviet Russian Political Parties’, in B. Wejnert, eds., Linking Environment, Democracy and Gender (Yorkshire: Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2012) pp. 73-10310.1108/S0895-9935(2012)0000020007Search in Google Scholar
Schattschneider, E. E., Party government (New York: Rinehart, 1942)Search in Google Scholar
Scott, I., Public administration in Hong Kong: Regime change and its impact on the public sector (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2005)Search in Google Scholar
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2013). Survey findings on evaluation of political parties in Hong Kong. Retrieved in April 2018 from http://www.cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press_detail.php?1=1&id=1595&s=Search in Google Scholar
The Democratic Party (2017). Research. Retrieved in April 2018 from http://www.dphk.org/index.php?route=news/category&path=1Search in Google Scholar
Tsang, S., Government and Politics: A Documentary History of Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1995)Search in Google Scholar
Voter Registration (2013). Voter registration statistics. Retrieved in April 2018 from http://www.voterregistration.gov.hk/eng/statistic20133.htmlSearch in Google Scholar
Wong, S. H. W., Electoral politics in post-1997 Hong Kong (Singapore: Springer, 2015)10.1007/978-981-287-387-3Search in Google Scholar
Wong, T. H., Hegemonies compared: State formation and Chinese school politics in postwar Singapore and Hong Kong (New York: Routledge, 2002)Search in Google Scholar
© 2019 Andrew Chun Kit Yu, published by De Gruyter
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Public License.
