Effects Of Political Modernization In Hong Kong

Between 1945 and 1997, Hong Kong underwent a relatively large political and institutional transformation. Especially after the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the pace of political transformation process was speeded up. In my opinions, the resumption of sovereignty did help Hong Kong move towards the process of political modernization. To explain why the turning back of Hong Kong could boost the political progress in our city, we should first know what is the definition of political modernization. Politically, modernization is the progress from despotism to democracy. All political reforms are aspired to fulfill people’s pursuit for freedom and equality, basic human rights and higher degree of participation in public affairs.
the Legislative Council. In November 1984, one month before the signing of the Joint Declaration, Governor Edward Youde published the White Paper: The Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong. As mentioned in the paper, ‘the main aims are to develop progressively a system of representative government at the central level which is more directly accountable to the people of Hong Kong and is firmly rooted in Hong Kong […] and to preserve their best features’ The Legislative Council had never had an election before. In 1992, Governor Chris Patten proposed a reform on the political system. He presented at a public meeting, ‘… on our present plans, will increase at subsequent elections with the ultimate aim of achieving a Council composed entirely of directly-elected members.’, his proposal was put into practice in the election of the Legislative Council in 1995. The Council became wholly elected. It was a breakthrough in Hong Kong’s political
Owing to the desire of British government to promote certain degree of democracy, it tried their best to give citizens more chances to join in the political affairs. Citizens’ level of political participation kept expanding. The degree of participation and political mobility for citizens were higher when comparing to the past. Miners (1975, 98) described that Hong Kong people were indifferent towards political activity and they would just passively accept the arrangements of the government. We can therefore see that not only did the government give citizens more opportunities to join the government after 1984, but also did the citizen become more active in politics than before. The progress of democratization had