Limited democratization: The politics of strategic inclusion in Hong Kong

Taking departure from a procedural conception, democracy is conceived in terms of the degree of political inclusion in a political order. A three-fold schema is proposed to delineate the nature of political inclusion: institutional, mobilizational and normative inclusion respectively. Democracy is not an "all-or-nothing" issue and is therefore conceived of in a continuum ranging from "total exclusion" to "integrative inclusion". While authoritarian regime signifies total exclusion, consolidated democracy characterizes integrative inclusion. In between the two polar ends, there can be varying degrees of inclusion and "discordant" inclusion resulted from the incongruent development of the three facets. "Restrictive Inclusion" designates the limited institutional accommodation of people's mobilization and demands for participation. "Tokenistic Inclusion" signifies the situation whereby political institutional framework is devoid of people's active involvement and identification. Limited democratization is therefore the manifestation of the discordant inclusion exemplified in the state-society interface.; Hong Kong's unique path of limited democratization is couched upon the co-existence of two competing states, Britain and China, throughout its history of political development. The strategic interplay between the two sovereigns in designing the political institutions of the territory characterizes the "strategic inclusion" in Hong Kong's limited democratization. There can be two distinguishable periods of Hong Kong's democratization process. The period of pre-1980s is characterized by "restrictive inclusion" under the British-colonial regime. The institutional framework was highly restrictive. The civil society was unprepared for the subsequent haphazard development of "democratic opening". There was a lack of effective political leadership launching democratization. The general public was largely alienated and politically apathetic. Entering the 1980s when Britain and China entered into negotiations on Hong Kong's future, the territory had become highly politicized. The British-colonial regime launched its "democratic opening" to lay a grossly democratic institutional framework in view of continued influence after 1997. This offensive strategy was met with China's stern rebuttal of stunting further liberalization in political institutions. The Sino-British intense competing strategic inclusion had resulted in firstly, institutional discontinuity and damaged regime legitimacy; secondly, divisive political mobilization staged by emerging rivalry political factions; thirdly, fragmented elites incapable of forming into united opposition vis-a-vis the regime; and finally the demoralization of the general populace unequipped with the necessary civic culture for democratization.; The future of Hong Kong's democratization is ultimately limited by its impossibility of independence. The breadth of its democratic development is hinged upon China's strategic considerations of both its internal and external references. The delicate interface between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the rest of the mainland, the demonstration effect of Hong Kong towards Taiwan, and the role of Hong Kong in China's overall economic and diplomatic strategies, are all significant factors influencing the future course of Hong Kong's democratization. The viability of the novel "One-Country-Two-Systems" is to be tested against the juxtaposition of these extraneous factors as well as the internal dynamics of the political factions and the Hong Kong people in the state-society interface.