Xi Jinping’s liberal birdcage: Democracy’s form and future in Hong Kong

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-269
Author(s):  
Steven Holloway
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Military Intervention ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Governance Reform ◽  
Xi Jinping ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
Freedom House

As street demonstrations remain unresolved in Hong Kong (HK) and continue into 2020, this paper assesses the protesters’ demand for universal suffrage and governance reform in general. It recounts the path to the current stalemate on political rights for HK’s liberal authoritarian regime and, using Freedom House data, traces the growing threat to civil liberties posed by Beijing’s covert extra-legal activities. Finally, the paper enumerates the restraints that make direct military intervention unlikely, and suggests how the current demonstrations might end in the coming months. One innovation of this analysis is to add in the forgotten political variable of the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership, especially the role of the 2012 transition from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping.

De facto states and democracy: The case of Nagorno-Karabakh

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 141-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pål Kolstø ◽  
Helge Blakkisrud
Keyword(s):  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
De Facto States ◽  
Failing States ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Freedom House

De facto states are often dismissed as ‘failing states’. However, in Freedom House rankings of political rights and civil liberties, they sometimes perform better than their parent states – as has been the case with Nagorno-Karabakh. This article examines the development of democracy in Nagorno-Karabakh against a checklist of factors assumed to be relevant: cultural homogeneity, size, existential threats, role of the diaspora, and the consequences of continued non-recognition. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews with central actors, the authors conclude that, contrary to what might be expected, non-recognition has played a main role in the democratization process.

scholarly journals Turkey’s Hybrid Competitive Authoritarian Regime; A Genuine Product of Anatolia’s Middle Class

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Stelgias
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
Hybrid Regime

Few years since the 9/11 Attacks in New York and following its rise to power, the AKP has gradually established a so-­called “competitive authoritarian regime,” in order to consolidate and secure its political power. This regime is hybrid and it is based on liberal principles (absence of tutelary authorities, protection of civil liberties, universal suffrage, free elections etc.). The AKP also provides for a reasonably fair level of political competition between the party in power (government) and the opposition. At the same time, however, the system shows some undemocratic features (violation of civil liberties, unfair elections, and uneven political competition.) This hybrid regime is based on three pillars: the state, the party and a newly emerged middle class in Anatolia. Through this hybrid regime Anatolia’s newly emerged middle class redefines its cultural and socio-­economic relations.

Cultural Activism during the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hio Tong Wong ◽  
Shih-Diing Liu
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Political Space ◽  
Cultural Activism ◽  
Protest Movement ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
Aesthetic Forms

Situated in Hong Kong’s post-colonial context of political crisis, this article attempts to investigate the unfolding of cultural activism during the Umbrella Movement occurred in 2014. This 79-day occupy protest, triggered by the government’s restriction on universal suffrage, has released protesters’ creative potentials in performing their struggles through a variety of aesthetic forms and practices. Questioning the traditional way of conceiving protest movement in terms of violent confrontations with government or instrumentalism, this article addresses the performative role of cultural activism which has been largely ignored in the study of Hong Kong protest movement. Rather, we argue that the creative practices enacted during the Umbrella Movement constitute in themselves the message that contains its own politics and grammars. These practices have constructed the meaning of the movement through naming, and have created the collective joy and identity among participants in the formation of movement solidarity. This article suggests that cultural activism is the spirit and soul of the Umbrella Movement, which has opened up a temporary yet crucial political space for democratic struggle.

Political Scandals and the Accountability of the Chief Executive in Hong Kong

Asian Survey ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 966-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Scott
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
The Past ◽  
Universal Suffrage ◽  
Political Scandals

This article examines two political and constitutional issues arising from scandals concerning the past and present Hong Kong Chief Executive. These relate to whether existing measures are sufficient to ensure integrity in high office and to the role of the Chief Executive after the introduction of universal suffrage in 2017.

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