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Dysfunctional elections and the political system in Hong Kong

Elections under hybrid systems may serve both the conventional purposes of elections in democracies and the legitimating function more commonly found in authoritarian regimes. We evaluate the functionality of the 2004 Legislative Council election in Hong Kong in this regard and analyse the consequences for the political system. We argue that the election weakened rather than strengthened the legitimacy of the system and that it was dysfunctional for the attainment of some of the traditional functions of elections in democracies such as political recruitment, informed debate and the selection of a representative assembly. The election also raised questions about the degree to which bias in the present system towards the election of pro‐government, pro‐China forces can be sustained in the face of an electoral outcome that shows majority support among voters for democratic candidates.