Abstract
On 1 July 2003, around 500,000 people in Hong Kong took to the street to protest against the government proposal to legislate Article 23 of the Basic Law, which, as some argue, demonstrated "Hong Kong-style people power" (Chan and Chung, 2004; Chan, 2005) and the vibrancy of its civil society. How true is this claim? Looking back, the challenges from the people and civil society organisations to the Hong Kong colonial and SAR governments were many, however, instances of success such as the 2003 episode are in fact quite rare. Why? This chapter explores the structure and development of civil society in Hong Kong as well as its role in governance. It argues that civil society in Hong Kong is sizable and vibrant but marginalised in its impact on governance, and Hong Kong is far from being a political society. The chapter further analyses the limitations to the development of civil society in Hong Kong with regard to its institutional environment and dominant values, and concludes with a summary of views of its possible future.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Contemporary Hong Kong Politics |
| Subtitle of host publication | Governance in The Post-1997 Era |
| Pages | 135-154 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Publication status | Published - 2007 |
| Externally published | Yes |