Bill Moyer observed that there are eight stages in a social movement: seeming normal, exposing injustice, ripening conditions, taking off, losing heart, winning the majority, reaping success and consolidating achievement. For more than 30 years, Hong Kong people have been striving for democracy. Applying Moyer’s model, Hong Kong should be now at a stage close to reaching its ultimate goal of establishing a genuine democratic system in the territory after years of work, especially the triggering event in September 2014 and the occupation during the Umbrella Movement. However, Moyer’s model cannot be mechanically applied to the case of Hong Kong in light of the unique situation faced by Hong Kong people. Hong Kong’s authoritarian sovereign holds the final key to Hong Kong’s door to democracy. Unless there is a significant shift in the balance of powers in the Chinese polity, Hong Kong’s democracy may be so near and yet so far.
ChanCT (2013) Young activists and the anti-patriotic education movement in post-colonial Hong Kong: Some insights from Twitter. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education12(3): 148–162.
5.
ChanH (1980) The Yaumatei boat people case. In: Putting justice and human rights in focus: A report on Hong Kong to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations.
6.
ChanKM (2015) Occupying Hong Kong: How deliberation, referendum and civil disobedience played out in the Umbrella Movement. International Journal on Human Rights21: 129–138.
7.
CheungALouieKS (2000) Social conflicts: 1975–1986. In: LauSK (ed.) Social Development and Political Change in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, pp. 63–114.
8.
DavisM (1999) The case for Chinese federalism. Journal of Democracy10(2): 124–137.
9.
DiamondL (2002) Thinking about hybrid regimes. Journal of Democracy13(2): 21–35.
10.
DonnoD (2013) Elections and democratization in authoritarian regimes. American Journal of Political Science57(3): 703–716.
11.
DuchRPalmerH (2002) Strategic voting in post-communist democracy?British Journal of Political Science32(1): 63–91.
12.
EnglerMEnglerP (2016) This is an Uprising: How Non-violent Revolt is Shaping the Twenty-First Century. New York: Nation Books.
13.
FinleyMSoiferS (2001) Social movement theories and MAP: Beginnings of a dialogue. In:MoyerBwith MacAllisterJFinleyML, et al.Doing Democracy: the MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, pp. 100–114.
14.
FishkinJ (2009) When the People Speak: Deliberative Democracy and Public Consultation. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
15.
FongB (2013) State-society conflicts under Hong Kong’s hybrid regime: Governing coalition building and civil society challenges. Asian Survey53(5): 854–882.
16.
ForsythCGronkePLeeHPOrrGPetersenCSurbaktiR (2014) Academic Roundtable on Universal Suffrage and Nomination Procedures: Imperatives from Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) for the Election of Hong Kong’s CE, Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 20 March 2014. Available at:https://www.law.hku.hk/ccpl/event/roundtable-article-25-iccpr/(accessed 2 September 2018).
17.
FrankinMNiemiRWhittenG (1994) The two faces of tactical voting. British Journal of Political Science24(4): 549–557.
18.
GandhiM (1952) Hind Swaraj. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
19.
GilleyB (2004) China’s Democratic Future: How It Will Happen and Where It Will Lead. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hong Kong University Popular Opinion Programmes (HKUPOP) (2014) Ming Pao sponsored “Survey on CE Election and Occupy Central Campaign” (Sixth round). Available at: https://www.hkupop.hku.hk/english/report/mpCEnOCCw6/index.html(accessed 2 September 2018).
22.
HouWKHallBCanettiD, et al. (2015) Threat to democracy: Physical and mental health impact of democracy movement in Hong Kong. Journal of Affected Disorder186: 74–82.
23.
HowardMRoesslerP (2006) Liberalizing electoral outcomes in competitive authoritarian regimes. American Journal of Political Science50(2): 365–381.
24.
HuiPKLauKC (2015) “Living in truth” versus realpolitik: Limitations and potentials of the Umbrella Movement. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies16(3): 348–366.
25.
HuiV (2015) The protests and beyond. Journal of Democracy26(2): 111–121.
26.
International Commission of Jurists (1992) Countdown to 1997: Report of a Mission to Hong Kong. Geneva: International Commission of Jurists.
27.
KingMLJr (1991) Letter from Birmingham City Jail. In: BedauH (ed.) Civil Disobedience in Focus. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 68–84.
28.
KuA (2012) Remaking places and fashioning an opposition discourse: Struggle over the Star Ferry Pier and the Queen’s Pier in Hong Kong. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space30(1): 5–22.
29.
KuanHS (1991) Power dependence and democratic transition: The case of Hong Kong. The China Quarterly128: 774–793.
30.
LamJ (2014) The Occupy Central Movement and political reform in Hong Kong. In: ChengJ (ed.) New Trends of Political Participation in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press, pp. 454–461.
31.
LamJ (2015) Political decay in Hong Kong after the Occupy Central Movement. Asian Affairs: An American Review42(2): 99–121.
32.
LamWM (2004) Understanding the Political Culture of Hong Kong: The Paradox of Activism and Depoliticization. Armonk, NY: London: M. E. Sharpe.
33.
LamWM (2007) Depoliticization, citizenship and the politics of community in Hong Kong. In: ChanKBWallsJHaywardD (eds) East-West Identities: Globalization, Localization, and Hybridization. Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, pp. 55–76.
34.
LauJKimYWuA, et al. (2017) The Occupy Central (Umbrella) movement and mental health distress in the Hong Kong general public: Political movements and concerns as potential structural risk factors of population mental health. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology52(5): 525–536.
35.
LauSK (1984) Society and Politics in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
36.
LauSKKuanHC (2000) Partial democratization, ‘Foundation Moment’ and political parties in Hong Kong. The China Quarterly163: 705–720.
37.
LaurinavičiūtėL (2013) “Peoples”: The perspective of international public law. Jurisprudencija91–118.
38.
Leadnow (2015) Defeating Harper: Reflections on the Vote Together Campaign. Available at: http://www.votetogether.ca/report(accessed 2 September 2018).
39.
LeeCKZhangYH (2013) The power of instability: Unravelling the micro-foundations of bargained authoritarianism in China. American Journal of Sociology118(16): 1475–1508.
40.
LeeFLF (2015) Social movement as civic education: Communication activities and understanding of civil disobedience in the Umbrella Movement. Chinese Journal of Communication8(4): 393–411.
41.
LeftwichA (1997) From democratization to democratic consolidation. In: PotterDGoldblattDKilohM, et al. (eds) Democratization. Cambridge: Polity Press in association with the Open University, pp. 517–538.
42.
LevitskySWayL (2002) The rise of competitive authoritarianism. Journal of Democracy13(2): 51–65.
43.
LimTM (2017) The future of Hong Kong governance: The pro-independence legislators’ election fallout and Beijing’s political voice in Hong Kong. Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies4: 343–353.
44.
LindbergS (2009) A theory of elections as a mode of transition. In: LindbergS (ed.) Democratization by Elections: A New Mode of Transition. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, pp. 314–341.
45.
MaN (2007) Political Development in Hong Kong: State, Political Society, and Civil Society. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
46.
MaN (2011) Value changes and legitimacy crisis in post-industrial Hong Kong. Asian Survey51(4): 683–712.
47.
MakS (2013) Everyday Imaginings Under the Lion Rock: An Analysis of Identity Formation in Hong Kong. Available at: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/6dd1s8sj (accessed 2 September 2018).
48.
MaoYWongCSPengK (2013) Breaking institutionalized corruption: Is the experience of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption generalizable?Asia Pacific Journal of Management30: 1115–1124.
49.
MinersN (1991) The Government and Politics of Hong Kong. 5th edn. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
50.
MoyerBwith MacAllisterJFinleyML, et al. (2001) Doing Democracy: The MAP Model for Organizing Social Movements. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.
51.
OrtmannS (2015) The Umbrella Movement and Hong Kong’s protracted democratization process. Asian Affairs46(1): 32–50.
52.
PalmerP (2011) Healing the Heart of Democracy: The Courage to Create a Politics Worthy of the Human Spirit. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
53.
PepperS (2008) Keeping Democracy at Bay: Hong Kong and the Challenge of Chinese Political Reform. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
54.
PetersonC (2005) Hong Kong’s spring of discontent: The rise and fall of the National Security Bill in 2003. In: FuHLPetersonCYoungS (eds) National Security and Fundamental Freedoms: Hong Kong’s Article 23 Under Scrutiny. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, pp. 13–62.
55.
Pop-ElechesGRobertsonG (2015) Information, elections, and political change. Comparative Politics47(4): 459–479.
56.
RingenS (2016) The Perfect Dictatorship: China in the 21st Century. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
57.
SchedlerA (2002) The nested game of democratization by elections. International Political Science Review23(1): 103–122.
58.
SchockK (2005) Unarmed Insurrections: People Power Movements in Non-democracies. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
59.
SchockK (2013) The practice and study of civil resistance. Journal of Peace Research50(3): 277–290.
SharpG (1973) The Politics of Nonviolent Action. Boston, MA: P. Sargent.
62.
SingM (1999) A changing political culture and democratic transition: The case of Hong Kong. In: ChengJ (ed.) Political Participation in Hong Kong: Theoretical Issues and Historical Legacy. Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press, pp. 49–70.
63.
SingM (2000) Mobilization for political change – The pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong (1980s–1994). In: ChiuSLuiTL (eds) The Dynamics of Social Movements in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, pp. 21–54.
64.
SingM (2009) Hong Kong at the crossroads: Public pressure for democratic reform. In: SingM (ed.) Politics and Government in Hong Kong: Crisis Under Chinese Sovereignty. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 112–135.
65.
SingM (2010) Explaining mass support for democracy in Hong Kong. Democratization17(1): 175–205.
66.
Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (2007) Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Issues Relating to the Methods for Selecting the CE of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and for Forming the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the Year 2012 and on Issues Relating to Universal Suffrage’ adopted at the Thirty First Session of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress on 29 December 2007. Available at: https://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclawtext/images/basiclawtext_doc21.pdf (accessed 28 November 2018).
67.
SuzukiDMayorgaE (2014) Scholar-activism: A twice told tale. Multicultural Perspectives16(1): 16–20.
68.
TaiB (1999) The development of constitutionalism in Hong Kong. In: WacksR (ed.) The New Legal Order in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, pp. 39–93.
69.
TsangS (2004) A Modern History of Hong Kong. London: I.B. Tauris.
WalleN (2006) Tipping games: When do opposition parties coalesce? In: SchedlerA (ed.) Electoral Authoritarianism: The Dynamics of Unfree Competition. Boulder, CO: L. Rienner Publishers, pp. 77–92.
