Legitimacy‐Building in the Macau special administrative region

Colonial legacies and reform strategies

Bibliographic Data

ID6233353
AuthorsSonny Lo (University of Waterloo), Sonny S H Lo, Herbert S Yee (Hong Kong Baptist University)
Year2005
Volume13
Issue1
Pages51-79
Publication date2005-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0218-5377 • E-ISSN: 1750-7812
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02185370508434250
OpenAlexW1983460454
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited18

The retrocession of Macau to Mainland China's sovereignty since December 20, 1999 has initiated an unprecedented process of legitimacy‐building in the new Special Administrative Region. The Chief Executive, Edmund Ho, has implemented a multiplicity of reform strategies for the sake of consolidating his legitimacy. The twilight of the Portuguese colonial era was plagued by a rapid deterioration in law and order and the persistence in public maladministration, thus weakening the departing colonial regime's performance legitimacy seriously. As such, the political environment was conducive to Ho's herculean efforts at establishing his performance legitimacy. While the new Chief Executive's procedure legitimacy was enhanced by his election from an Election Committee composed of political elites, Ho's performance legitimacy has been buttressed by depoliticisation, economic development, civil service reforms, and new constitutional conventions. The abolition of the Municipal Councils in 2000 ran the risk of delegitimising the Ho regime. Yet, such delegitimisation was by no means serious given the relatively weak political opposition. Still, in the face of a more active and assertive citizenry, political reforms will have to be pondered and implemented by the post‐colonial regime in Macau. It will be necessary for the Macau government to utilise democratic reforms in a bid to preempt the increasingly vociferous demands for more participatory channels. The case of Macau corroborates the existence of a dialectical process of legitimisation, which has been strengthened mainly by depoliticisation and economic development, and delegitimisation, which is looming in the midst of a steadily growing political activeness on the part of the Macau people. Notes Sonny S. H. Lo, PhD, is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario Canada. Herbert S. Yee, PhD, is Professor at the Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, in Hong Kong SAR

Colonialism · Democracy · Legitimacy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sovereignty · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration

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