Lost Opportunity: Local Councils and Grassroots Democracy Reforms after the Anti-Extradition Movement in Hong Kong

Abstract

Research on contentious politics tends to overlook the significance of local elections in supporting social movements and democratisation. This article analyses how the pro-democracy opposition in Hong Kong had tried to use the institutional positions and resources of the District Councils, after their landslide victory in 2019, to support the Anti-Extradition Movement and push for grassroots democracy reforms. Through a study of meeting documents and interviews with councillors, this study recapitulates the state–opposition struggle around the grassroots reform initiatives in the District Councils in 2020–2021. Efforts to support the Anti-Extradition Movement, promote grassroots participation, reform public finance, and counter clientelism were short-lived and met with strong state resistance. Institutional constraints, internal struggles, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic severely limited the reform efforts. The study of this reform experience sheds light on the possibilities and limits of using local councils to support reforms and promote grassroots democracy in hybrid regime settings.