Synopses & Reviews
This book discusses civic engagement and public policymaking in postcolonial Hong Kong. Utilizing case studies of citizensa (TM) advisory committees involving four policy areas - urban planning, social welfare policy, environmental protection, and arts and culture policy - it examines the interaction between the state and civil society, and explores how far the state opens up its policy process for citizensa (TM) participation. Although citizens' advisory committees are widely used in liberal democracies, they were made extensive use of by the colonial administration in Kong Kong, and continue to be used under the present regime. Some people have argued that the committees are mostly window-dressing. This book, however, demonstrates that they do offer the opportunity for increased public involvement, with some committees having been tranformed into more open forums, though at the same time other forms of societal mobilisation have had a significant impact on policy, forcing the government to delay or alter a wide range of policies on harbour reclamation, urban planning and heritage conservation.
Synopsis
Why and how has civic engagement emerged in the policy process of Hong Kong as an Asian semi-democratic state? This book attempts to answer this question through examining six cases that straddle diverse policy domains. It identifies three explanatory factors, namely, the profile of a policy domain, the structure of societal interest, and the strength of the civil society sector as important in shaping the state's strategy in managing society, hence its propensity to engage. These factors affect the outcome through dynamic interaction between the state and societal actors. The findings outlined in the book show that the development of civic engagement in Hong Kong consists of both society-led and state-led cases. Society-led development brought about a high degree of openness and inclusiveness, whereas state-led civic engagement practices tended to be tactics utilized by the state for appeasing or depoliticizing civil society. Compared with other Asian regimes, the use of 'transgressive contention' as a way to compel the state to engage society is a feature that stands out in the liberal autocratic regime in Hong Kong.