Abstract
To O’Donnell and Schmitter, the attitudes of political elites have a major impact on democratisation. The democratic opening is triggered by a split within ruling elites into ‘hardliners’, who ‘believe that the perpetuation of authoritarian rule is possible and desirable’, and ‘soft-liners’ who are aware that ‘the regime they helped to implant, and in which they usually occupy important positions, will have to make use … of some degree or some form of electoral legitimation’.1
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Notes
Quoted in Jane C. Y. Lee, ‘The Politics of Transition in Hong Kong: Elections and the Mobilisation Process, 1982–85’, unpublished PhD dissertation, Australian National University, April 1988, p. 145.
For the content of public sector reforms, see Jane C. Y. Lee and Anthony B. L. Cheung, eds., Public Sector Reform in Hong Kong: Key Concepts, Progress-to-Date and Future Directions (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1995).
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© 1997 Lo Shiu-hing
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Lo, Sh. (1997). Elite Values and Attitudes Toward Democratisation. In: The Politics of Democratization in Hong Kong. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25467-5_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25467-5_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-68392-7
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