Democracy or The Rule of Law – Ludwig von Mises Institute Canada.
One of the most heated topics last month was the protest in Hong Kong, led by students who were later joined by other Hong Kong citizens. The main issue between the government and the protesters is the Chief Executive Election method for 2017. The Basic Law states that “the ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures.” As of right now the Chief Executive was nominated by a committee of 1200 people, which is not via universal suffrage. Protesters are concerned that democracy and freedom in Hong Kong will be lost, and that their interests will not be represented.
This protest, otherwise known as the “umbrella revolution” by some media outlets, lead people to focus on the possible outcomes of these events, namely, to vote or not? However, voting (or democracy) is only one part of liberty, and the focus on change should include reforms of all institutions. The improvements of all these institutions will take time and great effort.
According to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, Hong Kong ranked no.1 with an overall score of 90.1 (The Heritage Foundation, 2014). This index consists of four major parts: the Rule of Law, Limited Government, Regulatory Efficiency, and Open Markets. According to the Heritage Foundation, Hong Kong scored its highest ever score this year. The lowest scores are Monetary freedom, under regulatory efficiency, which is 82; and Freedom from Corruption, under “Rule of Law”, which is 82.3.
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