Intermediation environments and election in Hong Kong

Democratization

Volumn 7, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 65-89

  Hsin‐chi, Kuan ^a   Siu‐kai, Lau ^b  

^a CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG   (Hong Kong)

^b Asia Pacific Division   (Hong Kong)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION; ELECTION; POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; VOTING BEHAVIOR;

CHINA; HONG KONG;

EID: 0033943424     PISSN: 13510347     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13510340008403660     Document Type: Article

References (71)

1. See Robert D. Putnam, 'Political Attitudes and the Local Community', American Political Science Review, Vol.60, No.3 (1966), pp.640-54; John M. Orbell, 'An Information Flow Theory of Community Influence', Journal of Politics, Vol.32, No.1 (1970), pp.322-38; Michael B. MacKuen and Courtney Brown, 'Political Context and Attitude Change', American Political Science Review, Vol.81, No.2 (1987), pp.471-90.
2. See Robert D. Putnam, 'Political Attitudes and the Local Community', American Political Science Review, Vol.60, No.3 (1966), pp.640-54; John M. Orbell, 'An Information Flow Theory of Community Influence', Journal of Politics, Vol.32, No.1 (1970), pp.322-38; Michael B. MacKuen and Courtney Brown, 'Political Context and Attitude Change', American Political Science Review, Vol.81, No.2 (1987), pp.471-90.
3. See Robert D. Putnam, 'Political Attitudes and the Local Community', American Political Science Review, Vol.60, No.3 (1966), pp.640-54; John M. Orbell, 'An Information Flow Theory of Community Influence', Journal of Politics, Vol.32, No.1 (1970), pp.322-38; Michael B. MacKuen and Courtney Brown, 'Political Context and Attitude Change', American Political Science Review, Vol.81, No.2 (1987), pp.471-90.
4. Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet, The People's Choice: How the Voter Makes up His Mind in a Presidential Campaign (New York: Columbia University Press, 1944). According to them, voting is essentially a group experience. For instance, people who work or live or play together are likely to vote for the same candidates.
5. Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck, 'Intermediation Environments of West German and East German Voters: Interpersonal Communication and Mass Communication During the First All-German Election Campaign', European Journal of Communication, Vol.9, No.4 (1994), pp.381-419; see also Paul Allen Beck, 'Voters' Intermediation Environments in the 1988 Presidential Context', Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.55, No.3 (1991), pp.371-94.
6. Rüdiger Schmitt-Beck, 'Intermediation Environments of West German and East German Voters: Interpersonal Communication and Mass Communication During the First All-German Election Campaign', European Journal of Communication, Vol.9, No.4 (1994), pp.381-419; see also Paul Allen Beck, 'Voters' Intermediation Environments in the 1988 Presidential Context', Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.55, No.3 (1991), pp.371-94.
7. The sample used in this questionnaire survey was drawn by means of a multi-stage design. The target population of the survey consisted of the Chinese inhabitants in Hong Kong aged 18 years old or over. Fieldwork was conducted mostly from 25 May to 26 June 1998, when 93 per cent of all the interviews were done. At the end of the survey, 988 cases were successfully completed, yielding a response rate of 47 per cent. This response rate can be considered satisfactory in the context of Hong Kong.
8. William Kornhauser, The Politics of Mass Society (New York: The Free Press, 1959). A related argument, though probably irrelevant to the case of Hong Kong, is provided by H. Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973) .
9. William Kornhauser, The Politics of Mass Society (New York: The Free Press, 1959). A related argument, though probably irrelevant to the case of Hong Kong, is provided by H. Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973) .
10. Mark Granovetter, 'The Strength of Weak Ties', American Journal of Sociology, Vol.78, No.6 (1973), pp.1360-80.
11. Bradley Richardson, 'Political Communications, Voting Styles, Embedded Electorates and Political Stability in Japan', paper presented at The CNEP II conference at Istituto Carlo Cateneo, Bologna, Italy, 30 June to 1 July 1998.
12. For further support of the idea that modernization erodes attachment to primary groups and brings about an individualization of politics, see R.J. Dalton and M.P. Wattenberg, 'The Not So Simple Act of Voting', in A.W. Finifter (ed.), Political Science: The State of the Discipline II (Washington, DC: American Political Science Association, 1993), pp.193-218.
13. For more details, see Kuan Hsin-chi, 'Politics Without Political Clouts', in Kuan Hsin-chi, Lau Siu-kai, Louie Kin-sheun, and Wong Ka-ying (eds.), Power Transition and The Legislative Elections in Hong Kong SAR (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1999), pp.277-301.
14. Herbert H. Hyman, Political Socialization (Glencoe: Free Press, 1959); M. Kent Jennings and Richard G. Niemi, 'The Transmission of Political Value from Parent to Child', American Political Science Review, Vol.62, No.1 (1968), pp.169-84; Richard E. Dawson, Kenneth Prewitt, and Karen S. Dawson, Political Socialization (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1977).
15. Herbert H. Hyman, Political Socialization (Glencoe: Free Press, 1959); M. Kent Jennings and Richard G. Niemi, 'The Transmission of Political Value from Parent to Child', American Political Science Review, Vol.62, No.1 (1968), pp.169-84; Richard E. Dawson, Kenneth Prewitt, and Karen S. Dawson, Political Socialization (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1977).
16. Herbert H. Hyman, Political Socialization (Glencoe: Free Press, 1959); M. Kent Jennings and Richard G. Niemi, 'The Transmission of Political Value from Parent to Child', American Political Science Review, Vol.62, No.1 (1968), pp.169-84; Richard E. Dawson, Kenneth Prewitt, and Karen S. Dawson, Political Socialization (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1977).
17. Like family though probably to a lesser extent, friendship group can also serve as a protective environment. See Ada W. Finifter, 'The Friendship Group as a Protective Environment for Political Deviants', American Political Science Review, Vol.68, No.2 (1974), pp.607-25.
18. Robert Huckfeldt, Politics in Context: Assimilation and Conflict in Urban Neighborhoods (New York: Agathon Press, 1986); Robert Huckfeldt and John Sprague, 'Networks in Context: The Social Flow of Political Information', American Political Science Review, Vol.81, No.4 (1987), pp. 1197-216.
19. Robert Huckfeldt, Politics in Context: Assimilation and Conflict in Urban Neighborhoods (New York: Agathon Press, 1986); Robert Huckfeldt and John Sprague, 'Networks in Context: The Social Flow of Political Information', American Political Science Review, Vol.81, No.4 (1987), pp. 1197-216.
20. There are alternative ways of posing the questions. We might have asked whether the respondents ever discussed politics in their social interaction with other people. If the answer is positive, we can probe further who these discussants are. The results may be different from the present method in two aspects. We may discover first a much lower frequency of political discussion and secondly other kinds of discussants such as fellow church-goers.
21. The lack of political discussion with spouses, parents and other relatives implies that childhood and adolescent political socialization in Hong Kong must also be weak. This is indeed the case, as 69 per cent of respondents reported that in their childhood absolutely no politics had been discussed in their families. In contrast, only 4 per cent of the respondents had experienced very frequent political discussion at home when they were young. Those who reported occasional discussion and rare discussion amount to 14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.
22. Sidney Verba, Norman H. Nie and Jae-on Kim, Participation and Political Equality, A Seven-Nation Comparison (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978).
23. Robert D. Putnam, Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1993).
24. It is not surprising to find that few people in Hong Kong belong to any political party, since political parties do not have any mass base. The largest party, Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (founded in 1992) has grown from 56 members to 1,440 today. In 1994, the Liberal Party (founded in 1993) had a membership of 1,500. It has dropped to about 490 today. The most popular party, Democratic Party, now has 547 members, compared to 801 in the founding year of 1994. Other parties are really taxi parties with membership lagging far behind the above three 'big' ones. For historical data, see Table 3 in Anthony Y.H. Fung, 'Parties, Media, and Public Opinion: A Study of Media's Legitimation of Party Politics in Hong Kong', Asian Journal of Communication, Vol.5, No.2 (1995), pp. 18-46. For an updated statistics see The Hong Kong Economic Journal (a Hong Kong daily newspaper), 14 June 1999, p.A21.
25. It is not surprising to find that few people in Hong Kong belong to any political party, since political parties do not have any mass base. The largest party, Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (founded in 1992) has grown from 56 members to 1,440 today. In 1994, the Liberal Party (founded in 1993) had a membership of 1,500. It has dropped to about 490 today. The most popular party, Democratic Party, now has 547 members, compared to 801 in the founding year of 1994. Other parties are really taxi parties with membership lagging far behind the above three 'big' ones. For historical data, see Table 3 in Anthony Y.H. Fung, 'Parties, Media, and Public Opinion: A Study of Media's Legitimation of Party Politics in Hong Kong', Asian Journal of Communication, Vol.5, No.2 (1995), pp. 18-46. For an updated statistics see The Hong Kong Economic Journal (a Hong Kong daily newspaper), 14 June 1999, p.A21.
26. Allowing for the probability that political parties targeted their campaign activities only at registered voters, not all the adult population, we can repeat the analysis to a sub-sample of registered voters only. The corresponding figures are marginally improved to seven per cent and 27 per cent respectively.
27. For example, in a study of the South Bend metropolitan area in 1984, about one-third of the respondents reported being contacted by at least one of the parties. See Robert Huckfeldt and John Sprague, Citizens, Politics, and Social Communication: Information and Influence in an Election Campaign (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p.234.
28. Readers who are interested in the development of political parties in Hong Kong may consult Lau Siu-kai and Kuan Hsin-chi, 'Partial Democratization, "Foundation Moment", and Political Parties in Hong Kong', The China Quarterly (in press).
29. For more recent examples, see E. Fox (ed.), Media and Politics in Latin America: The Struggle for Democracy (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1988); Vicky Randall, 'The Media and Democratisation in the Third World', Third World Quarterly, Vol.14, No.3 (1993), pp.625-46; Gary D. Rawnsley and Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley, 'Regime Transition and the Media in Taiwan', Democratization, Vol.5, No.2 (1998), pp.106-24.
30. For more recent examples, see E. Fox (ed.), Media and Politics in Latin America: The Struggle for Democracy (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1988); Vicky Randall, 'The Media and Democratisation in the Third World', Third World Quarterly, Vol.14, No.3 (1993), pp.625-46; Gary D. Rawnsley and Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley, 'Regime Transition and the Media in Taiwan', Democratization, Vol.5, No.2 (1998), pp.106-24.
31. For more recent examples, see E. Fox (ed.), Media and Politics in Latin America: The Struggle for Democracy (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1988); Vicky Randall, 'The Media and Democratisation in the Third World', Third World Quarterly, Vol.14, No.3 (1993), pp.625-46; Gary D. Rawnsley and Ming-yeh T. Rawnsley, 'Regime Transition and the Media in Taiwan', Democratization, Vol.5, No.2 (1998), pp.106-24.
32. See John Zaller, 'The Myth of Massive Media Impacts Revived: New Support for a Discredited Idea', in Diana C. Mutz, Paul M. Sniderman, and Richard A. Brody (eds.), Political Persuasion and Attitude Change (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press 1996), pp. 17-78; J. William Cavanaugh, Media Effects on Voters (New York: University Press of America, 1995); Larry Bartels, 'Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media Exposure', The American Political Science Review, Vol.87, No 2 (1993) pp.267-85; Scott C. Flanangan, 'Media Influences and Voting Behavior', in Scott C. Flanagan, Shinsaku Kohei, Ichiro Miyake, Bradley M. Richardson, and Joji Watanuki, The Japanese Voter (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press 1991), pp.297-331.
33. See John Zaller, 'The Myth of Massive Media Impacts Revived: New Support for a Discredited Idea', in Diana C. Mutz, Paul M. Sniderman, and Richard A. Brody (eds.), Political Persuasion and Attitude Change (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press 1996), pp. 17-78; J. William Cavanaugh, Media Effects on Voters (New York: University Press of America, 1995); Larry Bartels, 'Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media Exposure', The American Political Science Review, Vol.87, No 2 (1993) pp.267-85; Scott C. Flanangan, 'Media Influences and Voting Behavior', in Scott C. Flanagan, Shinsaku Kohei, Ichiro Miyake, Bradley M. Richardson, and Joji Watanuki, The Japanese Voter (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press 1991), pp.297-331.
34. See John Zaller, 'The Myth of Massive Media Impacts Revived: New Support for a Discredited Idea', in Diana C. Mutz, Paul M. Sniderman, and Richard A. Brody (eds.), Political Persuasion and Attitude Change (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press 1996), pp. 17-78; J. William Cavanaugh, Media Effects on Voters (New York: University Press of America, 1995); Larry Bartels, 'Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media Exposure', The American Political Science Review, Vol.87, No 2 (1993) pp.267-85; Scott C. Flanangan, 'Media Influences and Voting Behavior', in Scott C. Flanagan, Shinsaku Kohei, Ichiro Miyake, Bradley M. Richardson, and Joji Watanuki, The Japanese Voter (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press 1991), pp.297-331.
35. See John Zaller, 'The Myth of Massive Media Impacts Revived: New Support for a Discredited Idea', in Diana C. Mutz, Paul M. Sniderman, and Richard A. Brody (eds.), Political Persuasion and Attitude Change (Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press 1996), pp. 17-78; J. William Cavanaugh, Media Effects on Voters (New York: University Press of America, 1995); Larry Bartels, 'Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media Exposure', The American Political Science Review, Vol.87, No 2 (1993) pp.267-85; Scott C. Flanangan, 'Media Influences and Voting Behavior', in Scott C. Flanagan, Shinsaku Kohei, Ichiro Miyake, Bradley M. Richardson, and Joji Watanuki, The Japanese Voter (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press 1991), pp.297-331.
36. S. Hall, 'Encoding and Decoding in TV-Discourse', in Stuart Hall (ed.), Culture, Media, Language (London: Routledge 1980), pp.128-38; Richard R. Lau, 'Political Schemata, Candidate Evaluations, and Voting Behavior', in Richard R. Lau and David O. Sears (eds.), Political Cognition (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1986), pp.95-126; D. Morley, Family Television (London: Routledge 1988); Kathleen McGraw, 'Political Information Processing: A Review Essay', Political Communication, Vol.13, No.1 (1996), pp. 131-8.
37. S. Hall, 'Encoding and Decoding in TV-Discourse', in Stuart Hall (ed.), Culture, Media, Language (London: Routledge 1980), pp.128-38; Richard R. Lau, 'Political Schemata, Candidate Evaluations, and Voting Behavior', in Richard R. Lau and David O. Sears (eds.), Political Cognition (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1986), pp.95-126; D. Morley, Family Television (London: Routledge 1988); Kathleen McGraw, 'Political Information Processing: A Review Essay', Political Communication, Vol.13, No.1 (1996), pp. 131-8.
38. S. Hall, 'Encoding and Decoding in TV-Discourse', in Stuart Hall (ed.), Culture, Media, Language (London: Routledge 1980), pp.128-38; Richard R. Lau, 'Political Schemata, Candidate Evaluations, and Voting Behavior', in Richard R. Lau and David O. Sears (eds.), Political Cognition (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1986), pp.95-126; D. Morley, Family Television (London: Routledge 1988); Kathleen McGraw, 'Political Information Processing: A Review Essay', Political Communication, Vol.13, No.1 (1996), pp. 131-8.
39. S. Hall, 'Encoding and Decoding in TV-Discourse', in Stuart Hall (ed.), Culture, Media, Language (London: Routledge 1980), pp.128-38; Richard R. Lau, 'Political Schemata, Candidate Evaluations, and Voting Behavior', in Richard R. Lau and David O. Sears (eds.), Political Cognition (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1986), pp.95-126; D. Morley, Family Television (London: Routledge 1988); Kathleen McGraw, 'Political Information Processing: A Review Essay', Political Communication, Vol.13, No.1 (1996), pp. 131-8.
40. According to Paul S.N. Lee and Leonard L. Chu, Hong Kong has a relatively free mass media system characterized by a liberal political structure, diversified economy, profiteering media proprietors' culture, professional culture among media practitioners, and growing participant culture. See their article 'Hong Kong Media System in Transition: A Socio-Cultural Analysis', Asian Journal of Communication, Vol 5, No.3 (1995), pp.90-107.
41. See J. Chan 1992, 'Mass Media and Socio-political Formation in Hong Kong, 1949-1992', Asian Journal of Communication, Vol.1, No.3 (1992), pp. 106-29; J. Chan and P. Lee, 'Mass Communication Consumption and Evaluation', in Lau Siu-kai et.al., Indicators of Social Development: Hong Kong 1990 (Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Institute of Asian-Pacific Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong 1992), pp.79-104.
42. See J. Chan 1992, 'Mass Media and Socio-political Formation in Hong Kong, 1949-1992', Asian Journal of Communication, Vol.1, No.3 (1992), pp. 106-29; J. Chan and P. Lee, 'Mass Communication Consumption and Evaluation', in Lau Siu-kai et.al., Indicators of Social Development: Hong Kong 1990 (Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Institute of Asian-Pacific Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong 1992), pp.79-104.
43. See Lau Siu-kai, Democratization, Poverty of Political Leaders, and Political Inefficacy in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies Occasional Paper No.72, 1998), pp.13-14.
44. Steven H. Chaffee and Joan Schleuder, 'Measurement and Effects of Attention to Media News', Human Communication Research, Vol.13, No.1 (1986), pp.76-107; Steven H. Chaffee and S.Y. Choe, 'Time of Decision and Media Use during the Ford-Carter Campaign', Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.44, No.1 (1980), pp.53-9; Dan Drew and David Weaver, 'Media Attention, Media Exposure, and Media Effects', Journalism Quarterly, Vol.67, No.4 (1990), pp.740-8.
45. Steven H. Chaffee and Joan Schleuder, 'Measurement and Effects of Attention to Media News', Human Communication Research, Vol.13, No.1 (1986), pp.76-107; Steven H. Chaffee and S.Y. Choe, 'Time of Decision and Media Use during the Ford-Carter Campaign', Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.44, No.1 (1980), pp.53-9; Dan Drew and David Weaver, 'Media Attention, Media Exposure, and Media Effects', Journalism Quarterly, Vol.67, No.4 (1990), pp.740-8.
46. Steven H. Chaffee and Joan Schleuder, 'Measurement and Effects of Attention to Media News', Human Communication Research, Vol.13, No.1 (1986), pp.76-107; Steven H. Chaffee and S.Y. Choe, 'Time of Decision and Media Use during the Ford-Carter Campaign', Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol.44, No.1 (1980), pp.53-9; Dan Drew and David Weaver, 'Media Attention, Media Exposure, and Media Effects', Journalism Quarterly, Vol.67, No.4 (1990), pp.740-8.
47. For the differential effects of exposure and attention, consult Steven H. Chaffee and S.Y. Choe, 'Time of Decision and Media Use during the Ford-Carter Campaign', ibid., Ran Wei and Louis Leung, 'A Cross-Societal Study on the Role of the Mass Media in Political Socialization in China and Taiwan', Gazette, Vol.60, No.5 (1998), pp.377-93.
48. For the differential effects of exposure and attention, consult Steven H. Chaffee and S.Y. Choe, 'Time of Decision and Media Use during the Ford-Carter Campaign', ibid., Ran Wei and Louis Leung, 'A Cross-Societal Study on the Role of the Mass Media in Political Socialization in China and Taiwan', Gazette, Vol.60, No.5 (1998), pp.377-93.
49. It is admittedly difficult to accurately measure the extent of political knowledge. This study employs political leaders as a convenient indicator because rulers figure prominently in daily conversation of all walks of life and news reporting by the mass media used to be oriented toward celebrities. The specific personalities were chosen with a view to obtaining an optimal variation for subsequent analysis. The result is however not as good as was hoped for.
50. The Pearson chi-square is 86.6 for the level of education and 47.8 for the degree of political interest. Degree of freedom is 6 for both, and significance is both at the 0.001 level.
51. No statistical tables will be shown for the sake of saving space. It should be noted also that secondary associations are not discussed, since their political impotence has been established above.
52. This judgment is based on the substantial difference in Pearson chi-square between 51 (for friend) and 41 (for spouse and relatives), given the same degree of freedom and level of statistical significance. As a matter of hindsight, we should have differentiated between 'close friends' and just 'persons with whom one comes into regular contact with'. That way, we may extract additional evidence on the relative influence under conditions of intimacy versus regularity of contact.
53. The eta value for the association between the exposure to newspaper news and the level of political knowledge (as dependent variable) is more than twice that of its next competitor, that is the television, that is 0.37 versus 0.17, given the same degree of freedom and level of statistical significance.
54. The official turnout rate is calculated by the government on the basis of the registered electors, not the eligible voters. All respondents in our sample are eligible voters. The turnout out rate based on the sample comes close to the official rate. If the rate is calculated on the basis of respondents who claimed they had registered, then a huge gap results. Such a gap may be attributed to (A) the respondents' bias, that is, people who were willing to be interviewed were more civic-minded and tended to be voters and (B) the social desirability effect, meaning that some respondents lied about their voting when in fact they had not voted, because it is socially desirable to vote.
55. The questions are phrased as follows: (1) people like me do not have any influence over what the government does; (2) generally, politics seems so complicated that people like me cannot understand what is happening; (3) government officials do not care much about what people like me think.
56. The first question asks about the extent to which the respondents agree or disagree with the statement 'The Chief Executive of the HKSAR should be chosen by direct elections as soon as possible'. The second question reads: 'Members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong are returned by three different constituencies: the geographical, the functional and the Selection Committee. There are people who like a particular one of these constituencies and maintain that it should be kept forever, whereas others like to see its immediate abolition. What are your views?' Responses were then solicited for the three different constituencies.
57. Two caveats are in order. First, correlational analysis does not prove causality. Guided by logic and theory, it however permits a plausible reconstruction of the causes of electoral participation. Second, we do not attempt a regression analysis to ascertain the relative weight of individual factors of influence and the overall fit of the explanatory model. The primary reason is that with a mean value of 1.23 and a standard deviation of 0.97, the key variable, electoral participation, in this study does not represent a good measurement for the observation of large effects of any independent variable. Besides, scatterplots of electoral participation and the hypothetical independent variables do not indicate any linear relationship.
58. Why intimacy affects electoral participation but not political knowledge remains a puzzle to be solved by future research where the mechanisms of intimacy versus regularity of contacts should be well differentiated.
59. The Pearson chi-square for the association between attention and electoral participation (120.5) is twice that between exposure and electoral participation (65.7), given the same degree of freedom and level of significance.
60. To recapitulate, an overwhelming majority of them do not join any secondary association. More than half of them neither discuss politics with others within their private networks nor pay attention to the electoral news/programmes that they are extensively exposed to.
61. Since Hong Kong is but a special administrative region within China, the concept of 'state' should not be taken literally. It simply denotes the end state of affairs in which the rules of the political order are being institutionalized.
62. Opinion polls, especially those conducted immediately after an event erupts without many public debates, are plebiscitary tricks. In contrast, public opinion is the result of communication and debate in the public sphere. See Jurgen Habermas, Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy, translated by William Rehg (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998), p.362. There he writes: 'Public opinion is not representative in the statistical sense. It is not an aggregate of individually gathered, privately expressed opinions held by isolated person. Hence it must not be confused with survey results. Political opinion polls provide a certain reflection of "public opinion" only if they have been preceded by a focused public debate and a corresponding opinion-formation in a mobilized public sphere.'
63. On 29 January 1999, the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) delivered a landmark judgment in three cases, later known as the 'right of abode' ruling, which has among other things established that the right of abode enjoyed by children born of permanent residents of Hong Kong in mainland China is absolute and should not be made conditional on administrative schemes such as the People's Republic of China's one-way (exit) permit. The HKSAR government has a different understanding of what the pertinent provisions in the HKSAR Basic Law mean and speedily sought an interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (SCNPC). It was delivered on 26 June 1999 with the effect that the CFA's interpretations are in effect quashed. The general public initially affirmed the CFA's judgment as a manifestation of judicial independence, but accepted the SCNPC's interpretation, largely on the ground that a huge influx of immigrants as a result of the CFA's judgment would have an adverse effect on the current standards of living in Hong Kong. The HKSAR government has won a public relations battle by swaying opinions of the common people through the announcement of the estimated number of potential immigrants eligible under the CFA's ruling to the tune of about 1.67 million. The outcome of the right of abode issue sadly epitomizes the fragility of more fundamental values at the expedient mercy of populist, materialistic values in Hong Kong. For a concise introduction to the right of abode saga, see Kam C. Wong, 'Testing the Limits of "One Country, Two Systems': An Overview of the "Right of Abode" Case', China Perspectives, No.23 (May-June 1999), pp.42-53.
64. Andrew J. Nathan suggests that the number one reason is lack of sovereignty. He asks what would an authoritarian movement ask for and whom would it address?
65. Ambrose Yeo-chi King, 'Administrative Absorption of Politics in Hong Kong: Emphasis on the Grass Roots Level', Asian Survey, Vol.15, No.5 (1975), pp.422-39.
66. Lau Siu-kai, Society and Politics in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1982).
67. Lau Siu-kai and Kuan Hsin-chi, 'The Attentive Spectators: Political Participation of the Hong Kong Chinese', Journal of Northeast Asian Studies, Vol.14, No.1 (1995), pp.5-24.
68. See Joyce Y.M. Nip and Yiu-ming To, 'Television Coverage: Objectivity and Public Service', in Kuan Hsin-chi, Lau Siu-kai, Louie Kin-sheun and Wong Ka-ying (eds.), Power Transfer and Electoral Politics: The First SAR Legislative Elections in Hong Kong (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1999), pp.215-53.
69. See Lau Siu-kai and Kuan Hsin-chi, 'Attentive Spectators'.
70. At this point, we were tempted to compare Hong Kong with Singapore. Both cities share a common heritage of being a former British colony, but differ radically in the nature of citizenship. Hong Kong citizenship is liberal-individualist whereas that of Singapore is civic-republican. Citizenship is more a matter of status in Hong Kong, while in Singapore it is a practice encouraged by the government. Furthermore, it seems to us that unlike their unembedded counterparts in Hong Kong, citizens in Singapore are deeply embedded in associations such as Citizen Consultative Committees. Therefore, Hong Kong and Singapore make good comparison in terms of sharp contrast in the relationship between intermediation environments and electoral participation. The anticipated conclusion should also be theoretically elegant to the effect that strong intermediation leads the Singaporeans to political activism, while weak intermediation in Hong Kong results in political apathy. We decided not to pursue research on this aspect for the time being, because of theoretical and practical reasons. First, in terms of theoretical assumptions, the two cities do differ in important aspects. Singapore is a sovereign state, but Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, lacking sovereignty. Ethnicity is a very salient factor in Singaporean politics, especially in terms of citizenship construction. That is not the case in Hong Kong. In contrast to Hong Kong, Singapore has a dominant party, the People's Action Party, capable of mobilizing the mass public. Voting is compulsory in Singapore but free in Hong Kong. Given all these huge differences, there is no way to control for the independent influence of intermediation environments on the level of electoral participation. Secondly, there are also practical barriers to a meaningful comparison in terms of empirical data. Empirical political studies are conspicuously rare, particularly in areas of concern to this article. It is still an open question as to how Singaporeans are embedded in intermediation environments. As the mass media is subject to severe government control and most associations are state-sponsored, we are not sure whether they are autonomous intermediaries between the state and the citizens, or instead transmission belts serving state-defined objectives. All in all, we feel that considerable empirical research is required before any definite comparative statements can be attempted. We are grateful to two sources that alert us to the nature of intermediate organizations. In his article 'Voluntary Associations as a Model of Social Change', in Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, Vol. 14, No.2, p.82, T.T.W. Tan submits that most associations and organizations can not be seen as freely organized and spontaneously generated intermediaries between the government and the people. Likewise, in Chapters 6 and 7 of The Politics of Nation Building and Citizenship in Singapore (London: Routledge, 1995), Michael Hill and Lian Kwen Fee also regard many associations and organizations as governmental tools for controlled mobilization.
71. At this point, we were tempted to compare Hong Kong with Singapore. Both cities share a common heritage of being a former British colony, but differ radically in the nature of citizenship. Hong Kong citizenship is liberal-individualist whereas that of Singapore is civic-republican. Citizenship is more a matter of status in Hong Kong, while in Singapore it is a practice encouraged by the government. Furthermore, it seems to us that unlike their unembedded counterparts in Hong Kong, citizens in Singapore are deeply embedded in associations such as Citizen Consultative Committees. Therefore, Hong Kong and Singapore make good comparison in terms of sharp contrast in the relationship between intermediation environments and electoral participation. The anticipated conclusion should also be theoretically elegant to the effect that strong intermediation leads the Singaporeans to political activism, while weak intermediation in Hong Kong results in political apathy. We decided not to pursue research on this aspect for the time being, because of theoretical and practical reasons. First, in terms of theoretical assumptions, the two cities do differ in important aspects. Singapore is a sovereign state, but Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, lacking sovereignty. Ethnicity is a very salient factor in Singaporean politics, especially in terms of citizenship construction. That is not the case in Hong Kong. In contrast to Hong Kong, Singapore has a dominant party, the People's Action Party, capable of mobilizing the mass public. Voting is compulsory in Singapore but free in Hong Kong. Given all these huge differences, there is no way to control for the independent influence of intermediation environments on the level of electoral participation. Secondly, there are also practical barriers to a meaningful comparison in terms of empirical data. Empirical political studies are conspicuously rare, particularly in areas of concern to this article. It is still an open question as to how Singaporeans are embedded in intermediation environments. As the mass media is subject to severe government control and most associations are state-sponsored, we are not sure whether they are autonomous intermediaries between the state and the citizens, or instead transmission belts serving state-defined objectives. All in all, we feel that considerable empirical research is required before any definite comparative statements can be attempted. We are grateful to two sources that alert us to the nature of intermediate organizations. In his article 'Voluntary Associations as a Model of Social Change', in Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, Vol. 14, No.2, p.82, T.T.W. Tan submits that most associations and organizations can not be seen as freely organized and spontaneously generated intermediaries between the government and the people. Likewise, in Chapters 6 and 7 of The Politics of Nation Building and Citizenship in Singapore (London: Routledge, 1995), Michael Hill and Lian Kwen Fee also regard many associations and organizations as governmental tools for controlled mobilization.