The campaign strategies of the pro-Beijing and pro-democracy parties under the proportional representation system in Hong Kong before 2019
Asian Education and Development Studies
ISSN: 2046-3162
Article publication date: 6 April 2022
Issue publication date: 13 September 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the strategies employed by the pro-Beijing and pro-democracy camps in the proportional representation system which was used to universally elect a half of the seats in the Legislative Council (LegCo) of Hong Kong before 2019. It provides the consequences of proportional representation over the political sphere development after the handover.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is based on the past election results and the interviews conducted with 18 LegCo members in 2018.
Findings
This paper examines how the political parties split their lists in order to win more seats with the past electoral outcomes. Coupled with firsthand materials from interviews with the legislators, the most significant part of this article analyzes why the pro-Beijing camp performed better than the pro-democracy camp. It supplements the gap of current literature from the perspective of campaign strategies. This article also points out the Chinese authorities' miscalculation in the 1990s which resulted in the unintentional creation of fragmented politics and filibusters before 2019.
Originality/value
This examines the development of campaign strategies of the pro-Beijing and pro-democracy camps, and it explains how the proportional representation caused the fragmented politics in Hong Kong.
Keywords
Citation
Chan, F. (2022), "The campaign strategies of the pro-Beijing and pro-democracy parties under the proportional representation system in Hong Kong before 2019", Asian Education and Development Studies, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 714-725. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-09-2021-0191
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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