-
CHAPTER TWO: Representation and Democratization
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
- Additional Information
C H A P T E R T W O REPRESENTATION AN D DEMOCRATIZATION AsChapte rOn eha sdemonstrated,Hon gKon gwa sfounde da saCrow n Colonywithapoliticalsystemthatwasauthoritarianratherthandemocratic. Establishedprimarilya satradingpostandanavalstation,HongKon gwas notintendedbyitsfoundingfatherstodevelopintoaminiatureofdemocratic Britain,themetropolitancountry.However,thiswasnotonitsownsufficien t topreven tHon gKon gfro mdevelopin gdemocrac yi fthi sha dbee nth e wisho fa majorit yo fit speople .T opu tthi si nperspective ,on emus t understandth ehistor yo fth eevolutiono fth emoder nBritis hEmpir eint o theCommonwealth . Startingi nth enineteent hcentury ,variou sBritis hcolonie sdeveloped , representativegovernmen twithth eblessingsofBritain .Thistrendwa sse t bythesettlementcoloniesinBritishNorthAmerica(Canada)andAustralia. Theyfirstintroducedelectiveelementsintotheircoloniallegislatures .Onc e electedmember si nacoloniallegislatur eachieve da majoritythe ywoul d beallowe dt ofor ma responsibl egovernmen twit hcertai npower s— particularlyove rdefenceandforeignpolic y—stil lreserve dtotheCrown. Thegrantin go fdominio nstatu st oth eself-governin gpart so fth eBritis h Empire(Australia,Canada,SouthAfricaandNe wZealand )i ntheImperia l Conferenceof1907wasanimportantlandmarkinthisevolution.Theexact meaningo fbein ga dominio nwas ,however ,no tdefine dunti l192 6b y ArthurBalfour,andwasnotformallyadopteduntiltheStatuteofWestminster waspasse di n1931 .Dominion sha db ythe nbecom e'autonomou s communitieswithintheBritishEmpire,equalinstatus,innowaysubordinat e toon eanothe ri nan yaspec tofthei rdomesti co rexterna laffairs ,thoug h unitedb ya commo nallegianc et oth eCrow nan dfreel yassociate da s membersoftheBritishCommonwealthofNations'.1 Thischange,stilllimite d onlyt oth eformersettlemen tcolonies,wasa nimportan treflectio no fth e 58 GovernmentandPolitics empire'sflexibilit yt oadjus tt oth echangin gworld .Afterth een do fth e SecondWorl dWar ,Indi aan dPakista nbecam eth efirs tBritis himperia l possessions(asdistinctfromsettlementcolonies)toachievedominionstatus, andthenful lindependenc ewit ha democraticsyste mofgovernment.Th e doorwa sthusopenedfornon-settlemen tcolonie stofollowsuit ,andmos t ofBritain' scolonie swoul dd os olater .Admittedlyman ycolonie swhic h achievedindependenceafter1945havesincefailedtomaintainademocratic systemofgovernment .However ,i tremainstruethatsince194 5Britain ,as themetropolita npower ,ha sgenerall ybee nencouragin gt othos eo fit s colonieswhichwante dtodevelopdemocracy.I nthecontextoftheBritis h Empire-Commonwealth,theprocessofacolonygrowingeitherdirectly,or indirectlya sintheoldendaysthroughthestag eofbeingadominion,int o anindependen tstat eisknowna sdecolonization. IfHongKon gcouldhav ebecomeindependent ,i tcouldan dprobabl y wouldhav efollowedthi spat ha swell.Th erealit yis ,however,tha tHon g Kongwillhav etob eretrocededtoChinaregardles softhepubli copinio n inth eterritory .Th ePR Cwouldno tcontemplat ea nalternativ et oHon g Kongbeingincorporate db yi twheni tshouldceasetobe...