Chinese University academics mark end of studying Hong Kong elections with publication of new book
- Political scientists Ivan Choy and Ma Ngok to call it a day after Sunday’s Legislative Council poll, cite lack of incentive to soldier on after Beijing’s revamp of city’s electoral system
- New book analyses the practice of elections and and their impact on city’s political landscape since the early 1990s; it is considered part two of academics’ earlier 2003 work
After a quarter of a century of analysing Hong Kong elections, Chinese University political scientists Ivan Choy Chi-keung and Ma Ngok are calling it a day.
Choy said they hoped to mark the end of their academic study on local elections with the launch of their new book, titled The Electoral System and Voting Behaviour in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The duo would also gradually stop commenting on future local elections.
The book, which analyses the practice of elections and their impact on the political landscape since the early 1990s, is published by the City University of Hong Kong Press.
Choy and Ma, both in their mid-fifties, teach at Chinese University’s department of government and public administration. The academics have the longest history of studying the city’s elections.
“Since the early 1990s, elections in Hong Kong have been seen as a reflection of public opinion. It is no longer the case after the revamp,” Choy said. “Instead, Beijing is doing the sales pitch by highlighting the varied backgrounds of the candidates running in the election.”
Ma added: “The analytical framework we have been using since the mid-1990s will no longer be applicable to the city’s new electoral system.”