HKP Lecture 2 - The political context (1): Colonial legacy and post-1997 governing ideologies PDF

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The political context (1): Colonial legacy and post-1997 governing ideologiesLocal politics during colonial times affect institutional & cultural continuity now(A)The colonial model of governance  Minimalist state (lassiez-faire state), executive dominance, performancelegitimacy, and depoli...

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HKP Lecture 2 The political context (1): Colonial legacy and post-1997 governing ideologies Local politics during colonial times affect institutional & cultural continuity now (A) The colonial model of governance  Minimalist state (lassiez-faire state), executive dominance, performance legitimacy, and depoliticized citizenship 去政治化) MINIMALIST STATE  Classical liberalists ensure that individual liberty would not be infringed by the state, enjoy maximum degree of liberty as protected by the state  Nozick: the state should only take up no more than limited governance o To maintain domestic order o To enforce and ensure contracts made between individuals o To protect individuals from external attack (provide army, police force and court system to maintain safety) o Night watchmen state  Friedman: HK as a prototype of free market ideology o Voluntary exchange is primarily conducted by the market which is free from government intervention o No tariff or other restraints on international trade o Minimal role of government  Political basis o 1. Lau Siu Kai (1984): “minimally-integrated socio-political system”  Political culture perspective  The colonial state as one that was autonomous from societal forces  Weak horizontal linkages between groups and a non-participatory political culture  People were political aloof and not demanding from the government o 2. Peter Harris (1978): administrative state  “A state in which administrative organization and operations are particularly prominent”  Top-ranking bureaucrats or civil servants dominated decisionmaking  No dichotomy between politics and administration in HK  Politicians make policy while civil servants enforce policy  Local theory by Lau Siu-kai: “bureaucratic polity”  No party politics, Government is to a large extent insulated from party politics o 3. Stephen Chiu (1994 & 1996): The nature of colonial regime  The limited financial capacity of the colonial government, budget has to be approved by the UK  Self-sufficiency as the paramount rule, not to cause trouble to the UK, keep their spending to the limit

HKP Lecture 2 The political context (1): Colonial legacy and post-1997 governing ideologies o 4. Ng Tak-wing (2000): as a consensus-building strategy  Power dynamics with famous business tycoons  A neutral arbiter between different business interests  British merchants are politically powerful, underdog of Chinese merchants before 1960s could not get a share of political power  Colonial government were torn from two competing interest, therefore it chose not to intervene and refuse to use public resources to help individual enterprise as the opinions and interests were too divided o 5. Alvin So (1986): the lack of class struggle and Cold War politics  Look at what was happening outside HK  Absence of government intervention due to lack of class struggle  Economic embargo on China in the 1950s and 60s, HK as the only place for China to earn hard currency; Chinese did not want to install any labour movement in HK  The division of pro-CCP and pro-KMT labour unions, absence of joint effort to fight against the colonial government Debates: Minimalist VS interventionist state  Castells, Goh and Kwok (1990): hidden state subsidies to keep labour cost low o Provision of public housing o Intervention in private housing market  Rent control (would not increase by >21% during the 1960s)  The price of foodstuff  Protectionism on certain areas (importation of agricultural products from Mainland China e.g. rice and vegetables) o To maintain the interests of the local farmers in 1960s-70s  Lee and Yue (2001): non-interventionism as a rhetoric o Colonial bureaus lack the legitimacy to formulate clear policy goals and develop policy o A pragmatic adaptation rather than some grand ideology design  Lam Wai-man (2000 & 2004): Resistance from below o Challenge to Lau Siu-kai’s theory of political aloofness  “A struggle between activism & depolitization” o Overlook lots of social movements in 1950s-60s that demanded the government for policy changes  1953 increase in tram fares  1951-1953 campaign for rent control

HKP Lecture 2 The political context (1): Colonial legacy and post-1997 governing ideologies EXECUTIVE DOMINANCE/ EXECUTIVE-LED  George Tsebelis: The executive holding a dominant position vis-à-vis the legislature over the legislative process o The executive has the capacity to control the agenda of the legislature o The executive can get its proposal accepted by the legislature  2 major patterns of executive-legislature relations: Executive dominance & executive-legislative balance (Arend Lijphart) Political system Westminster model (Parliamentary system) e.g. UK

Continental Europe model e.g. Germany

Presidential and semi-presidential system

Executive-legislative relations Executive dominance - Selected by majoritarian system, party discipline is strong - Back up by legislative majority - can enjoy long-term of tenure and cohesion of the party itself Executive-legislative balance - Proportionate representation system - Power-sharing between executive and legislature under coalition government - Depends the strength or discipline of the president’s party’s power in the legislature - President and Legislature elected by totally different procedures - President may or may not get the acceptance from the legislature - More situational or contingent

Executive dominance in Hong Kong  Not build upon democratic capacities  The dominant position of the governors: o Letters Patent (formal legal basis for the source of power of the Governor and Executive Council and Legislative Council) o Royal Instructions (ruling or voting procedures inside the ExCo and LegCo, give power of the enactment of laws by executive branch)  Executive Council o Advisor of the Governor, all appointed by the Governor  Legislative Council o Official members (government department officials), Appointed members (business tycoons, industrialists before 1960s) o Not fully elected through universal suffrage: arena of closed-door negotiations, mere rubberstamp for passing government’s bills

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Executive-legislative collaborative relations o Governor’s power to form the legislature (Governor also serve as the President of the LegCo before 1993) o Overlapping membership o No checks and balances Introduction of Functional Constituencies in 1985 o 1985-1991: official members and appointed members still dominated decision-making in LegCo, the govt has clear majority, only 1 bill being rejected Reforms by Chris Patten (1993) o Civil Service reform: increase the legitimacy, efficiency and accountability  Performance pledgers programme, Efficiency Unit o Abolished overlapping membership between ExCo and LegCo o No appointed councilors in the LegCo after 1995 o The Governor no longer serves as the president of the LegCo  To create a better check and balance o Reform of functional constituencies elections  Direct elections, first-pass-the-post: Democrats were very popular and able to win majority (radically democratic reform in 1995-1997) c.f. Provisional LegCo in 1997 controlled by China, not elected but selected by 400 pro-China members from Election committee; unconstitutional as not stipulated in the Basic Law

PERFORMANCE LEGITIMACY  Ian Scott (2010) and Lau Siu-kai (1984)  Legitimacy: the benchmark of acceptability or justification of political power (John Rawls) o Procedural legitimacy: absence of democratic procedures o Performance legitimacy: economic prosperity and stability  Meeting people’s economic expectations = achieving legitimacy (Buy political support)  Assisted by bureaucratic accountability: efficiency, basic public goods, a corruption free government, protection of basic liberties, consultation, emphasis on accountable government since the 1980s  New Public management reform in the 1980s: injecting private practice into the public sector, citizens treated as customers rather than recipients of welfare  Promises: corruption-free, protection of basic liberties, consultation process (X democratic, top-down), provision of basic social welfare

HKP Lecture 2 The political context (1): Colonial legacy and post-1997 governing ideologies o Administrative absorption of politics 行政吸納政治 (Ambrose King 金耀基)  Political co-optation: tactic often used in authoritarian regime, the formalised inclusion of challengers into the authority system so as to legitimate and protect status quo arrangements  Co-opting elite force of the society into the government  Colonial honours, ExCo, LegCo, Urban Council as major channels of absorption  To consolidate the authority of the government and maintain legitimacy, and prevent the challengers to organize political force outside the government DEPOLITICISED CITIZENSHIP (Agnes Ku, Poon Ngai, Lam Wai-man)  Citizenship (Conover) o Importance of the membership in the political community o Sense of citizenship – people treasure the significance of their membership in the society o The behavior that people engage in their community as part of their public life/ political life  The practice of citizenship includes both political participation (manifested as a content through active participation in community affairs and assertion of rights) and civil activity (fulfillment of obligations e.g. payment of tax)  Active VS Passive citizenship  Citizenship is a political construction  Can be subject to political manipulated as defined by the government o Passive citizenship: more about the obligations rather than rights of citizens by asking citizens to be productive and contributive to the society (interrelated to minimal state discourse) o Self-reliance, economic usefulness and contribution o Economic animals o HK as a metropolitan and an economic city o Enable economic activities to flourish (utility) rather than social justice o Individualism instead of collectivism and community  Buffer against Chinese government influence  If alienated, hardly be politically mobilized o Civil duties rather than political rights  To be a good citizen is to be socially responsible  Skip the political activism component  Inhibits the development of political interests, consciousness and mobilization Case: a depoliticized and denationalized curriculum (Paul Morris et al.) Introduction of new curriculum (social studies syllabus in 1967) - Social need: to indigenize the immigrants from mainland China

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Socio-economic changes in the 1960s: HK changed from entrepot to an industrial economy with the impact of the Korean War (China sanctioned by the US), HK has to explore more overseas market, students have to know more about the world Knowing the world instead of knowing China – The Peoples of Asia, Foreign History and Knowledge of the UN HK’s relationship with China underplayed o History of China stopped after 1911, put emphasis on historical part rather than contemporary China o CCP history excluded in the syllabus o Prevent students to be sympathetic with CCP

(B) Governing ideologies after 1997 COLONIALISM - A practice of domination, which involves the subjugation of one people to another, one state gradually expanding and extend its territory - The project of European political domination from the 16th to 20th centuries that ended with the national liberation movements of the 1960s - Misconceptions: o X Studying the colonial political and economic institutions  BUT Orientalism by Edward Said – colonialism as a knowledge and a style of thought/ discourse  Structured academic discipline in the West (mainly focused on Asia and Middle East)  The European culture created a stable depiction of its “other” and hence it gained in strength and identity (contrasting distinction between “the Orient” and “the Occident”)  Binary oppositions between the East and the West o Irrational VS rational, chaotic VS order, body VS mind so as to make the East look inferior o A mode of exercising authority by organizing and classifying knowledge about the Orient  Knowing the Orient as a way of dominating it by affecting how people in the East look at themselves  The Orient was not a free subject of thought/ free from power politics o X The process of colonization is exogenous. From the colonizer to “us  BUT politics is not a game in which everything is possible  The prevalence of domination before colonization  Colonial rule is partly built upon certain cultural traits of the indigenous people  Culture that are available for manipulation by the colonizer

HKP Lecture 2 The political context (1): Colonial legacy and post-1997 governing ideologies 魯迅：「中國的文化，都是侍奉主子的文化，是用很多人的痛苦換來的。無論 中國人，外國人，凡是稱贊中國文化的，都只是以主子自居的一部份。以前， 外國人所作的書籍，多是嘲罵中國的腐敗；到了現在，不大嘲罵了，或者反而 稱贊中國的文化了。常听到他們 說:我在中國住得很舒服呵！這就是中國人已 經漸漸把自己的幸福送給外國人享受的證据。所以他們愈贊美，我們中國將來 的苦痛要愈深的！」 o Post-colonial = after colonialism  The term post-colonial is NOT the same as after colonialism (John Mcleod)  We should be aware of using the term post-colonial strictly as marking a historical moment or period  Post-colonial is used to describe  Post-colonial society: independent from the colonise (gain its political sovereignty) + cultural process of identity reconstruction of the indigenous people & the way they’re being seen by other persons o Having own language, education system  The other way of being seen as nationalism  “Colonial values do not simply evaporate on the first day of independence”  Absorbed into the indigenous culture and become part of the local culture even if the colonisers have gone  Life after independence in many ways is characterized by the persistence of the many effects of colonization  Frantz Fanon: many newly-independent nation can find itself administered by an indigenous middle-class that uses its privileged education and position cheerfully to replicate the colonial administration of the nation for its own financial profit Case: Chinese co-optation in 1992-1997 Leo Goodstadz: Central Policy Advisor  Chinese govt co-opt and win over the British allies into the post-1997 system  To minimize the shock of transition by relying more on the pre-97 colonial elites o Hong Kong Affairs Advisors (HKAA): small honour/ political gift given to the supporters of the pro-China camp than functional o Preliminary Working Committee: major channel through which Chinese govt announced their blueprint for post-97 constitutional proposals o Selection Committee: 400 members, responsible to elect the 1st CE in HK and the Provisional LegCo in 1996, appointed by Chinese govt which has full control of the selection process

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Functional constituencies preserved, democrats were largely shut out o Preserving professional elites inside LegCo Representation of pre-97 elites such as SY Chung, Rita Fan Overlapping membership of influential business tycoons o Appointed to different pro-China cooptation institutions, e.g. Li Ka Shing, Fok Ying Tung Lu Ping: “It’s all the same group of people”

THE POWER RELATIONS INHERITED  Institutional continuity – retained and modified: o The executive-led system o Performance legitimacy o Depoliticized citizenship and re-nationalisation o Soft authoritarianism 

The executive-led government o Top-down policy making model: major source of policy comes from executive instead of legislature o Not explicitly put inside the Basic Law, but:  “Private Members’ Bill” (Art 74): the legislators can initiate policy but there are many constraints as to the content (govt’s expenditure, govt’s policy & need to seek consent of CE) o Remains important on paper and in theory o Feasibility doubtful with the change in political context: scholars give negative views over the executive-led system  “Hollowed-out government” (Anthony Cheung)  “Institutional disarticulation” (Ian Scott)  “Institutional incongruity” (Eliza Lee) o Institutional changes:  The executive does not enjoy an absolute power/ majority over the legislature by institutional default  Lobby with the pro-government lawmakers (depending on contingent situations)  CE: non-Partisan, do not have party support in the legislature  Introduction of direct election to the LegCo  Makes the lawmakers more eager to fight for public interest and oppose govt policies  Different sources of power  Selected on separate and totally different procedures (~Presidential system drawback)  Adversarial relations: the executive & legislature fight against each other

HKP Lecture 2 The political context (1): Colonial legacy and post-1997 governing ideologies o How accurate is the term “executive-led” in describing the new executive-legislature relations?  Now cannot fully control the agenda of the legislature  PK Lee: “executive-driven” 

Performance legitimacy o Economic performance/ growth as the first priority, to win over citizens’ support o Instrumental rationality  GDP should only be a means to achieve better living, but now the govt is confusing the means and the objectives o Economic efficiency is more important than social justice o Welfare will only be given if it can contribute to economic development o China’s world-class city: economic stability, decent living standard, rather than political reforms o Economic solutions/ interpretations to the crisis of governance and continued threats about the losing economic importance of HK to China  E.g. CY Leung 2014 Policy Address: argued greater efforts in capitalising on the city’s exiting advantages, strengthening cooperation with the mainland and oversea economies in every aspect and fostering diversity and robust growth in HK’s industries

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Depoliticised citizenship o (i) The persistence of passive citizenship  Economic independence and contribution of individuals  “Lion Rock Myth”: self-reliance, once you pay effort you would have return  CY Leung ranked the sectors in relation to the respective economic contribution, “religious sector, sports sector” as no economic contribution  Economic well-being as the collective goal  Civic obedience rather than rights and critical judgment  Matthew Cheung Kin-chung: secondary school students without independent thinking were instigated by Scholarism to attend strike; should study instead f participate in politics, should rely on parents for opinions, should obey social order  Still disfavor political parties ad collective actions  Denounce as disturbing social order and economy  Shallow community memories

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Star Ferry Pier o 1966 Star Ferry fee increase gave rise to riots o Govt demolished the architecture and built a new pier o Ahistorical: although replicating the past, with no historical values & witness no historical events  Promote homogeneity, consensus, harmony (ii) Limited re-nationalisation: reinvention of culture, education system, language  In every postcolonial society, reconstruction of community or citizen identities is one of the foremost task of the newly established colonial regime  Nationalistic discourse plating an important constitutive role  Tung Chee-wah: Re-nationalisation by Asian values and neoConfucianism  Dichotomy by making binary distinctions between the West and the East  Prefer consultation rather than open confrontation  Order, stability and harmony, obligation to the society ~passive citizenship  2012 National Education Curriculum Proposal  Good citizens as nationalistic citizens  Ethnic nationalism: membership to a nation is involuntary, blood-ties and kinship o Cannot refuse to be a Chinese o C.f. civic nationalism: social contract, political voluntary membership  “Family metaphor”: HK’s relationship with China  One should be grateful to the nation  Blotting out tensions between HK and China  Sense of belongin...