External Actors and Internal Dynamics: Hong Kong`s Democratization Under British Rule

Abstract

This article argues that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) simultaneously aided and constrained democratization in Hong Kong under British rule. Due to the interference of the PRC as an external actor, Hong Kong thus evolved through three periods of democratization before the transfer of sovereignty: (1) a pre-democratization era before 1982; (2) a period of limited democratization between 1984 and 1991; and (3) a phase of further democratization in the period 1992-97. The Hong Kong case supports Samuel P. Huntington’s argument that external actors can hinder or promote democratization in another sovereign country in order to achieve top national policy objectives. However in contrast to Huntington and Adam Przeworski’s, the PRC stimulated, helped, and constrained political transition throughout the period under discussion. As Hong Kong has been politically absorbed into China, China played a more important role in the democratic transition than Huntington and Przeworski assume. The Hong Kong case therefore represents a unique example in democratization under external influence.