The Political Cultures of Hong Kong and Mainland China: Democratisation, Patrimonialism and Pluralism in the 2007 Chief Executive Election

Democratisation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is necessarily constrained by the trepidation of the central government in Beijing, which views radical political reform as a step towards an expansion of western influence upon both Hong Kong and mainland China. The political culture of Beijing constantly clashes with that of the pro-democracy Hong Kong people, who regard themselves as politically mature enough to enjoy the luxury of Western-style democracy. The collision between the two political cultures came to a head in December 2005, when the pro-democracy legislators rejected the political reform blueprint proposed by the Hong Kong government. However, the participation of the mainstream democrats in the 2007 Chief Executive election was a watershed in Hong Kong's political development. It signaled an amalgamation of the mainland Chinese political culture, which emphasises patrimonialism and personnel control, and Hong Kong's political conventions, which stress pluralistic competition, public accountability and transparency. The blend of patrimonialism and pluralism will continue to be a hallmark of the evolving Beijing-Hong Kong political relations in the years to come.