What Drives Young People Into Opposition Parties Under Hybrid Regimes? A Comparison of Hong Kong and Singapore

Research on youth participation in opposition parties under hybrid regimes is limited. This article explores and compares the contextual factors influencing young people to join opposition parties in the hybrid regimes of Hong Kong and Singapore. Based on life history interviews with 19 young opposition party members between the ages of 18 and 29 in both polities, this study identified seven significant factors. They are the characteristics of the opposition parties themselves, significant political events, politics-related university experiences, media influence, voluntary organizations, family influence, and politics-related secondary school experiences. This suggests that some favorable factors still exist for opposition parties in hybrid regimes to recruit young talents. This study also found that although most factors are shared by participants of both Hong Kong and Singapore, their relative importance and contents can be different, which may reflect the different types of hybrid regimes that these two societies respectively have.