Escape from politics : hong kong's predicament of political development?
By: KUAN, Hsin-chi
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ArticlePublisher: New York : Marcel Dekker, 1998International Journal of Public Administration - IJPA 21, 10, p. 1423-1448Abstract: Political development in Hong Kong is analyzed in terms of its existential rationale, non-sovereign autonomy, capability, and democratization. Changes in these aspects have two implications. First, the conditions for social escape from politics before the conclusion of the Sino-British Agreement on the future of Hong Kong in 1984 no longer exist. Secondly, a political society has emerged to mediate between society and the polity. This represents a fundamental structural transformation in state-society relationship away from the minimally integrated system whereby the polity was secluded from the society. Can this political society in Hong Kong be eradicated, arrested, or tamed after the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997? An educated guess is that it can at best be tamed, provided that democracy remains the ultimate objective of the Basic Law and elections continue to be held.
Political development in Hong Kong is analyzed in terms of its existential rationale, non-sovereign autonomy, capability, and democratization. Changes in these aspects have two implications. First, the conditions for social escape from politics before the conclusion of the Sino-British Agreement on the future of Hong Kong in 1984 no longer exist. Secondly, a political society has emerged to mediate between society and the polity. This represents a fundamental structural transformation in state-society relationship away from the minimally integrated system whereby the polity was secluded from the society. Can this political society in Hong Kong be eradicated, arrested, or tamed after the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997? An educated guess is that it can at best be tamed, provided that democracy remains the ultimate objective of the Basic Law and elections continue to be held.
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