Good Political Sociology Essay Example

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is governed by a top leader so called the Chief Executive. The position was created to replace the governor of the British Council regime back in 1970. The person in that position was tasked with the responsibility of representing the people of Hong Kong and to be answerable to the central government that was based in Beijing. His task, however, was not based on being answerable to the people of Hong Kong, he was only to serve them and represent their interests to the central government. After a local electoral process, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong was to be endorsed by Beijing officials and after that announce the new leader in the position officially.
Despite the fact that the Chief Executive was only replacing the position previously occupied by the Governor, who during the colonial era was solely appointed by the British crown, the Chief Executive was elected by 400 member selection committee. This committee was first operational from 1997-2002. In the second term which was between 2002 and 2007, the committee consisted of 800 members. According to the constitution, the CE had to be elected via the consultations held in the locality and eventually appointed by the Central People’s Government. As a result, the CE was the individual who bridged the people of Hong Kong to the Central government. All in all his powers come from the central government. The number of people capable of taking part in the elections of 400 which later increased to 800 is a small number which is easily manipulated. This fact makes the voting system used to elect the Chief Executive very dangerous. However, the voting system depends entirely on the voters being obedient and sincere with themselves to curb the cheating during the voting process.
The very first election into the LegCo took place in 1998. This occurred after Hong Kong had been reverted to Chinese Sovereignty. The elections to the LegCo were presumed totally to be democratic and was presumed to be the dire rule of law. The only difference that comes between governments is whether they hold elections and if by any chance they do, what kind of elections do the hold and how free and fair are the election processes. Those are the major definitions of an efficient government. During any elections, it is necessary to note that the electoral processes are mainly defined by the basic ground rules which define them. Therefore, the establishment of the electoral systems is necessary for the set rules that govern the election processes.
The Legislative Council elections in 1991, for instance, was regarded as a watershed in the history of politics in Hong Kong. The then Legislative was constituted by both elected and non-elected members. There were 20 non-elected members and of the 20, three were officials of the LegCo, and the other 17 were appointed members. However, in 1995, for the very first time, Hong Kong Legislative Council constituted only the elected members. For a person to contest the elections in Hong Kong, there are three major ways. First, the geographical elections returned approximately 20 members through the means of single member plurality system which could be caused by lowering the election age from 21 to 18 years. Second, the functional constituencies returned 30 members. Lastly, an election committee voted for ten people from an open candidature to get to the position of the LegCo members. The election commission consisted of District Board members who were directly elected in the 1994 territory-wide District Board elections.
Hong Kong has not yet qualified to be named among the completely and purely democratic states. The socio-economic conditions in Hong Kong have not produced a standard condition for democracy in Hong Kong. However, the external factors may not be valid and a contributing factor towards the establishment of democracy in Hong Kong. This is mainly because some of the socio-economic conditions might at some point become irrelevant. When this happens, some of the available solutions at hand might not even work effectively. The people in power at that time have the ability to turn and control every act that is set to promote democracy. Therefore, democracy can only prevail if there are neutral people in the government. People with no ill intentions but to serve the public who cast their votes for them and those who respected and trusted them to bring nothing but development to the society. This has become a loss which has been incurred by the public since they expect the public to promote the goodwill and well-being of the public which they do not fully accomplish. Therefore, the statement, “hegemonic rulers can control the content of lessons and books” is very true. The rulers take advantage of the power they are given by the public to bend the rules and laws to their advantage, and they use the power to dictate whatever goes on in every aspect of the public affairs. Therefore, the statement is very true and valid.