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Economic inequality can have significant political-social impacts, leading to social unrest and other negative consequences. With a high level of economic inequality and a remarkably contentious society, Hong Kong offers an intriguing case for investigating the political consequence of economic inequality. Based on an original random sampling survey in 2017, this study examines the political effects of perceived economic inequality in Hong Kong from three perspectives, namely, its impacts on citizens' preferences for redistribution, political autonomy, and social protests. This study yields several important findings. Citizens' perceived economic inequality is positively correlated with support for government redistribution and support for political autonomy. However, perceived economic inequality is not associated with citizens' propensity to join social protests. We find that political values and citizens' identities influence their demand for political autonomy and propensity to join protests. Our study thus sheds fresh light on the effect of economic inequality on a developed economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the multiplicity and fluidity of identities, measuring mixed identities is challenging. As an epicenter of identity conflicts, Hong Kong is an ideal place to study mixed identities. However, the conventional unidimensional measurement in Hong Kong surveys and statistical correlation analysis may not accurately estimate the prevalence of different combinations of identities. Therefore, this study reassesses the patterns of identity combinations from 2016 to 2022 through K-means clustering of multiple identity indicators. The clustering analysis identifies three clusters, namely dual identity, moderate hybrid identity, and predominant Hong Kong identity. The analysis suggests that the conventional single-item indicator underestimates the proportion of mixed identities in the population. Furthermore, this study documents the rise of a predominant Hong Kong identity, particularly among young people. The regression analyses illustrate that citizens who are older, non-supporters of the pan-democratic camp, and not born in Hong Kong are more likely to have dual identity. This study contributes to the literature on measuring mixed identities by arguing that multidimensional measurement is preferable to unidimensional measurement when the main research objective is to examine the proportion of various combinations of identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the puzzling phenomenon of why Hong Kong citizens have much lower support for increasing spending on social assistance when all other welfare programs have been favored by local residents. With a random sampling survey, we find that citizens' support towards raising the requirement of immigration is negatively correlated with their support for social assistance (the CSSA scheme). This study highlights that the perception of "who benefits" will influence citizens' support for welfare spending. The Hong Kong story enriches the debate about the impact of citizens' attitudes towards immigration on welfare spending against a backdrop of deglobalization and anti-immigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have called for a synergy between studies of deliberative democracy and social movements for their mutual enhancement. The existing literature generally applies the principle of deliberation to evaluate social movements, but few studies have examined the corresponding practice of deliberative democracy within a movement. The Occupy Central (OCLP) campaign in Hong Kong is a rare case in which the organizers incorporated Deliberation Days into a social movement; however, participant self-selection turned it into an instance of 'enclave deliberation'. This paper studies the impact of enclave deliberation on social movements based on the case of the OCLP campaign and argues that enclave deliberation can be a powerful tool for mobilization, particularly for gaining public support and for recruiting core participants. However, the coherence and support of the movement can decline when enclave deliberation is used to make decisions for the general public, because enclave deliberation incorporates only a small spectrum of like-minded participants who might not seriously engage with opposing views. The findings of this study imply that enclave deliberation could facilitate mobilization, but it has its inherent limitations for decision-making in a movement. Given the selective nature of social movements, deliberation within social movements is likely to be enclave deliberation in most cases. This study thus has significant implications for the practice of deliberation in social movements in other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]