The political economy of recasting the constitutional debate in Hong Kong

Abstract

People obtain value, or gain utility, from procedures rather than merely from outcomes. Academic researchers are slowly and selectively coming to terms with this fact, but it is neither sufficiently nor widely appreciated by actors in Hong Kong's political arena, whether at the center or on the periphery. The territory is grappling with the issue of democratic reform— both its pace and scope— but the heated exchanges between the proponents and the opponents of representative government are confined to the outcome utility of the various constitutional proposals. It is essential to incorporate the procedural element into this incomplete picture.