Electoral impacts of a failed uprising: Evidence from Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement

Do anti-regime protests in electoral autocracies benefit the opposition by shifting the political preference of the bystanders? We seek an answer to this question by examining the electoral impact of Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement. Analyzing the election outcomes at the polling-station level shortly after the movement, we find that protest exposure, as measured by spatial proximity to protest sites, is positively correlated with the decline of electoral support for the opposition. Individual level surveys indicate that the adverse influences of protest exposure manifest themselves in elevating by-standing citizens' sense of economic insecurity, even though the movement causes no persistent income loss, while enhancing political efficacy.     

Hong Kong's political influence over China: institutional,informative, and interactive dynamics of sovereignty

Abstract

This article explores how Hong Kong has exercised political influence on China since the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, and tries to comprehend such seemingly impossible influences by reinterpreting the concept of sovereignty. It argues that the British Hong Kong existed as a ‘reference society’ for China's modernization and helped to change Chinese perceptions of capitalism. As this resulted in Chinese recognition of the legitimacy of Hong Kong's colonial institutions, which were featured with political legacies of civic freedom and the rule of law, it also reveals the institutional dimension of sovereignty. Secondly, the information flow from Hong Kong to China reflects a communicative (in contrast to coercive) nature of sovereignty, which highlights Hong Kong's central position in the Chinese world of information. Thirdly, Hong Kong's ongoing democratization challenges Chinese authoritarianism through societal interactions that are beyond state control. Conceptually, in this article, state sovereignty is argued as being something fluid and constantly reshaped in everyday practice with institutional, informative, and interactive dynamics; practically, it attempts to find some remaining ‘silver lining’ to the growing authoritarian Chinese clouds above Hong Kong as reversing the logic of examining external factors in democratization.     

多元文化主义:美国的特洛伊木马?——阿尔文·施密德对多元文化主义的批判

阿尔文.施密德把多元文化主义视作现代的特洛伊木马,认为两者的相似之处在于:首先,特洛伊人对城外巨大的木马产生了很大的兴趣,美国人则对多元文化主义现象抱有极大的热情;其次,特洛伊人曾被警告不要把木马搬进城,但他们不顾警告还是把木马拖进了城,同样,美国人也曾经得到告诫不要把多元文化主义引入美国社会,但是美国人并没有在意这些告诫;第三,和古代的特洛伊木马一样,这个现代的木马一旦深入到国家内部,藏匿在木马里的“将士”就会打开城门,让他们那些守在门外的同伴进入这个国家的院校、商业、政府与教堂等领地。为此,施密德从理论内涵和实践两个方面对多元文化主义进行了深刻的揭露和批判。