Organizational Adaptation of the Hong Kong Democratic Party: Centralization and Decentralization

Abstract

This paper adopts an organizational approach to evaluate the development of political parties in Hong Kong. Using the Hong Kong Democratic Party (DP) as a case study, this paper studies the party’s internal work and explores the relationship between party organization and the environment. This study illustrates that since its formation in 1994, the DP has been adapting to the environment so as to improve its prospects for survival after 1997. As centralization and decentralization are the vital issues in a party organization, this study proposes four elements- (1) the electoral process; (2) policymaking and implementation; (3) personnel management; and (4) fiscal policy-in investigating the DP’s internal structure. The DP’s organization has included adaptation to four environmental factors: (1) electoral law; (2) party competition; (3) diversity of district characteristics; and (4) financial sources. This paper concludes that in order to survive after 1997, the DP’s organization must change because of the China factor. Its future adaptations are thus dependent on its attitudes toward the Chinese government.