Abstract
Popular constitutionalism rarely arises in authoritarian polities. In the absence of genuine elections and referenda, aggrieved and disenfranchised citizens are more likely to resort to extraconstitutional action to defend themselves, to which the regime may respond with decisive suppression. Systemic popular constitutionalism did emerge inHongKong, currently underChinese sovereignty, however. Through coordinated mass resistance based on shared constitutional understandings, large numbers of residents have succeeded in restraining the appointedHongKong chief executive from deploying his full range of powers, obligedChina to make concessions on electoral reform it would not have made otherwise, and enabled the Basic Law, an imposed constitution, to remain relevant. This article specifies three preconditions under which the residents ofHongKong have, in the teeth of authoritarianism, managed to adjudge the constitutionality of the acts of the ruling elite with their feet. These preconditions, nevertheless, are idiosyncratic, and may not endure the recent mounting tensions betweenHongKong andChina [Correction added on 5 June 2014, after first online publication: the phrase “to authoritarian politic” has been removed from the last statement in the abstract.].
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