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11. Civil Society and Democratic Development in Hong Kong
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
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CivilSocietyandDemocraticDevelopmentinHongKong ChristineLo h 1.WhatI sCivilSociety ? "Civilsociety "refer st othatpar tofsocietytha ti snon-governmental .Th e conceptofcivilsocietyaroseasaresponsetothe20thcenturyexperienc e offascism,authoritarianisman dtotalitarianism,wherethestatesoughtt o monopoliseal lsocia linstitutions .I nothe rwords ,civi lsociet yi sa counterweightt oth einfluenc eo fth estat eo ncommunit ylife .Thechie f elementsofcivilsocietyincludeamarketeconomy,anindependentmedi a anda networ ko fvoluntar yassociation sthroug hwhic hpeopl eca nwor k togetheri nmanagin gcommunit yissues .Thes enon-governmenta l organisations(NGOs )ma yinclude ,butarenotlimitedto,thefollowing: •Cultur ean drecreatio norganisation s •Educatio nan dresearc horganisation s •Healt horganisation s •Socia lservice s •Environmenta lgroup s •Developmen tan dhousingorganisation s •Law ,advocacyan dpublicpolic ygroup s •Philanthropi corganisation s •Internationa lorganisation s •Religiou sgroupsan dinstitution s •Professiona lan dbusinessassociation s Thus,civilsocietyi saboutpeopl eworkingtogetheri ngroups. Whoar e"th epeople" ?Th epeopl ear eal lthos ewh oar esubjec tt oth e governmentwithi na give njurisdictio nirrespectiv eo fstatus ,clas so r BuildingDemocrac y12 7 CivilSocietyandDemocraticDevelopmentinHongKong wealth.I nthi scontext ,th epeopl einclud enational sa swel la snon nationals .I nth ecas eo fHon gKong ,th epeopl einclud eal lHon gKon g residents.A citize ni susuall ydefine dmor enarrowl ya sa nationa lo fa countrywh oha sful lcitizenshi prights .Hon gKon gsociet yi smad eu po f Chinesecitizens ,non-citizen swh ohav epermanen tresidenc ystatu s (whichconfer sal ltheright senjoyedb yChinesecitizen sresiden ti nHon g Kongexceptfortheabilitytoholdcertainpolitica lpositions )an dresident s withoutpermanen tresidenc ystatus .Th epeopl ear eal lmember so fth e public,andeachmemberha sastakeinthecommunitylif eofHongKong. Howcanmembersofthepubliccontributetocreatingagoodsociety?W e canb elaw-abiding ,pa ytaxe so ntime ,vot ea telections ,donat et o charitiesan dgiv eou rtim et ohel pth eneed yb yvolunteerin gfo rworth y causes.W eca nrespon dt ogovernmen tconsultation so nvariou sissue s andeve nserv eo nadvisor ybodies .Sinc ew ear edealin gwit hpubli c matters,theyinvariablyrelatetogovernmentandpolitics.Improvementsi n thecurren tsituatio ngenerall yrequir echangin gth ewa ything sar edon e andma yeve ninvolv echangin gth estatu squ ot ocreat egreate requit y withina society.Therefore,participatio ni nthegovernanc eo fHon gKon g helpsmember so fthepubli ct ogaingreate rcontro love rthei row nfutur e asmembersoftheHon gKon gcommunity . Workingforthelarge rpubli cgoodinevitabl yinvolve sworkingwithothers. Peoplecomin gtogethe rt ohel peac hothe ri snothin gnew .Sinc eth e beginningo ftime ,huma nbeing shav ebande dtogethe rfo rmutua lcar e andprotection.Ourpowerasindividualsisexpandedwhenwecollaborat e withothersoncommoncauses.In...