In-between liberal authoritarianism and electoral authoritarianism: Hong Kong's democratization under Chinese sovereignty, 1997-2016

On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the handover, Hong Kong's transition towards a full democracy remains unsettled. Drawing upon the contemporary theories of hybrid regimes, this article argues that manipulations adopted by electoral authoritarian governments have become increasingly co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDemocratization Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 724 - 750
Main Author Fong, Brian
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 07.06.2017
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Authoritarianism
Case studies
China
Democracy
Democratization
Elections
electoral authoritarianism
Handover
Hong Kong
Hybrid regime
liberal authoritarianism
Mass media
Sovereignty
Hong Kong
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Summary:On the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the handover, Hong Kong's transition towards a full democracy remains unsettled. Drawing upon the contemporary theories of hybrid regimes, this article argues that manipulations adopted by electoral authoritarian governments have become increasingly common in Hong Kong today. As Hong Kong's elections, opposition activities, and media have been increasingly put under electoral authoritarian-style manipulations, the city-state is now situated in the "political grey zone" in-between liberal authoritarianism and electoral authoritarianism and its transition into a full democracy remains nowhere in sight. The case study of Hong Kong will help enrich the existing comparative literature on hybrid regimes by developing a new "in-between category" and offering an interesting case of democratization of sub-national polity.
ISSN:1351-0347
1743-890X
DOI:10.1080/13510347.2016.1232249