CUHK
News Centre

The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) conducted a telephone survey from 20 July to 21 August 2023 to gauge the public’s level of interest in politics. 62.9% of the respondents said they were not very interested or not interested at all in politics. The main findings are as follows:

The survey asked the respondents about their level of interest in politics. 62.9% of the respondents said they were not very interested (39.0%) or not interested at all (23.9%), while 34.2% were very interested (5.1%) or moderately interested (29.1%). Compared to a similar survey conducted in 2022, the number of those who were not very interested or not interested at all increased by 7.4 percentage points, while the number of those who were very interested or moderately interested decreased by 7.7 percentage points. The statistical analysis (chi-square test) showed that the results for 2023 were statistically significant different from those for 2022.

The survey listed some possible channels for expressing political opinions and asked the respondents how often they had expressed their opinions on issues related to their local district or Hong Kong as a whole via these channels in the past year. It found that most respondents did not actively use these channels to express their opinions. Comparatively, social media was more frequently used to express opinions than other channels. 14.5% of the respondents always (3.4%) or sometimes (11.1%) posted or shared political messages on social media such as Facebook and other internet forums, while 16.3% seldom did so and 68.4% had never done so. The survey also found that 6.9% of the respondents said that they always (1.1%) or sometimes (5.8%) expressed their opinions to District Councillors or Legislative Councillors, while 9.1% seldom did so and 83.8% had never done so. 6.2% of the respondents always (1.0%) or sometimes (5.2%) expressed their opinions through non-governmental organisations, while 11.9% seldom did so and 81.2% had never done so. Lastly, 6.0% of the respondents always (0.7%) or sometimes (5.3%) expressed their opinions directly to relevant government departments or their officials, while 9.9% seldom did so and 83.3% had never done so.

Compared with the results for 2022, the proportion of respondents always or sometimes posting or sharing messages on social media such as Facebook and other internet forums in 2023 decreased by 6.9 percentage points, while the proportion of respondents responding that they had never done so increased by 17.1%. The statistical analysis (chi-square test) showed there were statistically significant differences in the results regarding the expression of opinions on social media between 2022 and 2023. For the other three channels for expressing political opinions, no statistically significant difference was found in the results between 2022 and 2023.

When the respondents were asked about their views on statements which may reflect the reasons for their level of political interest, 55.0% agreed that “government officials do not care much what people like me think”, 16.2% disagreed and 21.5% said “half-half”. 51.9% of the respondents agreed that “people like me don’t have any say about government policies”, while 25.1% disagreed and 18.3% answered “half-half”. Also, 40.9% of the respondents agreed that “sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that a person like me cannot really understand what is going on”, while 29.0 disagreed and 25.8% said “half-half”.

The statistical test showed that there were statistically significant differences in the percentage distributions of answers to the three questions between 2022 and 2023. Firstly, the proportion of respondents agreeing that “government officials do not care much what people like me think” in 2023 increased by 7.3 percentage points, while that disagreeing increased by 4.2 percentage points. Secondly, the proportion of respondents agreeing that “people like me don’t have any say about government policies” in 2023 increased by 8.9 percentage points, while that disagreeing increased by 6.3 percentage points. Lastly, the proportion of respondents agreeing that “sometimes politics and government seem so complicated that a person like me cannot really understand what is going on” in 2023 increased by 13.5 percentage points, while that disagreeing decreased by 9.4 percentage points.

The survey also listed some opinions on various functions and roles of Hong Kong political parties, with the respondents asked to indicate their degree of agreement with these opinions. When the respondents were asked if political parties in Hong Kong could effectively monitor the government, 47.1% disagreed, 26.4% agreed and 19.2% said “half-half”. 50.7% of the respondents disagreed that political parties in Hong Kong could represent the public’s range of views, while 21.9% agreed and 22.0% answered “half-half”. 43.6% of the respondents agreed that many policies could not proceed smoothly if political parties did not support the Hong Kong government, while 30.8% disagreed and 15.8% said “half-half”.

The statistical analysis shows that there were statistically significant differences in the results of the three questions about functions and roles of political parties between 2022 and 2023. Firstly, the proportion of respondents agreeing that “political parties in Hong Kong can effectively monitor the government” in 2023 increased by 16.1 percentage points, while that responding “half-half” decreased by 13.5 percentage points. Secondly, the proportion of respondents disagreeing that “political parties in Hong Kong can represent different views of the public” in 2023 increased by 15.1 percentage points, while that responding “half-half” decreased by 20.8 percentage points. Lastly, regarding the statement that “many policies could not proceed smoothly if political parties do not support the Hong Kong government”, the proportion of respondents agreeing to the statement increased by 14.5 percent points, while that responding “half-half” in 2023 decreased by 11.0 percentage points.

The survey employed a dual-frame sampling design that included both landline and mobile phone numbers. A total of 711 respondents aged 18 or above (landline: 225; mobile: 486) were successfully interviewed, with response rates of 20.5% (landline) and 22.2% (mobile). The sampling error for the sample size of 711 is estimated at plus or minus 3.68 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The data in this survey was weighted based on the probability of the respondents being selected via dual-frame sampling design and relevant age-sex distribution of the population published by the Census and Statistics Department before analysis.