This article reviews how Beijing’s design of a liberal autocracy constrains party development in Hong Kong. It shows how the governing philosophy and the institutional design and mechanics of the electoral system disallow a strong governing party and suppress political participation. This situation brings about a weakened state capacity and a fragmented ruling coalition with elites working on contrasting incentives. It also leads to legislative fragmentation and declining public confidence in legislative and party politics. Unable to contain political participation, radical street actions arose to challenge the government. The 2019 Anti-Extradition Movement best exemplifies the weakness of the ruling coalition and the radicalization of street politics posing major challenges to the governance of Hong Kong.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
December 2020
Research Article|
December 01 2020
Parties without Power: Disabled Governance and Disarticulated Participation in Hong Kong
Ngok Ma
Ngok Ma
Department of Government and Public Administration, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Search for other works by this author on:
Communist and Post-Communist Studies (2020) 53 (4): 118–135.
Citation
Ngok Ma; Parties without Power: Disabled Governance and Disarticulated Participation in Hong Kong. Communist and Post-Communist Studies 1 December 2020; 53 (4): 118–135. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/j.postcomstud.2020.53.4.118
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.