Hong Kong from Britain to China: Political Cleavages, Electoral Dynamics, and Institutional Changes (review)

In preparing for the resumption of Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the British colonial government introduced electoral reforms to the Hong Kong legislature. What this book attempts to study is the lines of social cleavage that have helped to shape voters' choices in Hong Kong and that have served as the basis of mobilization during the popular elections for the Legislative Council (LegCo).

The political context in which the political reforms of the 1980s took place is examined in chapter 2, under the following topics: the nature of the colonial state, social composition and political orientation, the reasons for the lack of any serious challenge to colonialism, and the unusual process by which decolonization took place in the early 1980s.

The author then devotes two chapters to a discussion of two significant political cleavages that have shaped the electoral politics of Hong Kong over the past two decades. Chapter 3 charts the development of the center-periphery cleavage in the 1980s, during which the contradiction between a British-controlled government and a Chinese society was gradually resolved by the resumption of Chinese government in a Chinese society. The bone of contention is the pace and direction of political liberalization or democratization in the transition period as well as the degree of autonomy enjoyed since 1997. The pro-center group has favored a slower pace in the democratization process and accepted the degree of autonomy that was allowed by the Chinese government, while the pro-periphery group has supported a more rapid pace and fought for the maximum degree of autonomy. The salience of the center-periphery cleavage among the electorate in the 1991 LegCo popular elections was reflected in the importance given to the issue during the campaign and the defeat of both the leftist and the conservative candidates by a significant margin of votes by the leading democrats. However, the center-periphery cleavage appears to have undergone a transformation since 1997. The relative lack of intervention by the central government in Beijing into the domestic affairs of Hong Kong has had the effect of putting any direct conflict between Beijing and Hong Kong on the sidelines.

Chapter 4 shifts to the expansion of the Hong Kong state and the formation of a cleavage in terms of collective consumption. Here Li argues that the more the government has intervened in the provision of collective-consumption goods (such as public housing, hospital services, and education) the more people have been drawn into the political process. As a result, any move to privatize collective consumption would meet with protest and result in shifts in electoral support. For instance, in the early 1980s the crisis of confidence resulting from uncertainty over Hong Kong's political future adversely affected land and property values. Because of the sudden decline in land prices, the government was forced into cutting back government expenditures and adopting a policy of privatization. Understandably, low-income residents and the middle class were most adversely affected, and collective consumption became one of the principal political issues. This consumption cleavage intensified after 1997, and Hong Kong has since experienced a serious economic downturn.

Chapter 5 examines the various stages of development of the political forces within Hong Kong and their alignments since the 1970s and the emergence of a political-party system by the 1990s. Chapter 6 focuses on the mobilization efforts of the participants in the LegCo popular election campaigns of 1991, 1995, and 1998. It also explores the election results in the contexts of the emerging electoral market and party development.

Chapter 7 examines the institutional design of the executive and legislative branches in post-1997 Hong Kong and their capacity for conflict resolution and management. It is argued here that the minimal participation of the conservatives, the overwhelming support of both the democrats and the leftists, and the resulting "distorted" electoral market...