Promise of Democratization Report 7 in 2002

In a departure from normal practice, in 2002 Promise of Democratization Report 7 was prepared as a collaborative research effort between the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) in Washington DC, USA and Civic Exchange in Hong Kong.

Promise of Democratization Report 7#

The report examined the Political Accountability System. Its findings were documented in:

·         The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong: Accountability without Democracy? The Principal Officials Accountability System in Hong Kong. NDI Hong Kong Report #7. 16 October 2002¹.

The primary authors of the report were:

·         Christine Loh, Chief Executive Officer of Civic Exchange;

·         Richard Cullen, Professor of City University, Hong Kong and Monash University, Australia.

·         Christine Chung, Senior Program Officer for Asia Programs at NDI;

·         Eric Bjornlund, NDI Senior Advisor and former Senior Associate and Regional Director for Asia, made major contributions to the writing and editing.

The report was compiled with the help of:

·         Rajesh Sharma of City University, Hong Kong;

·         Yip Yan Yan of Civic Exchange for their research assistance;

·         Laura Paler of NDI;

·         Rebecca Bradburd of NDI for their role in editing;

·         Keith Akers of Monash University, Australia, for his research on ministerial systems upon which Chapter VII of this report was based.

Acknowledgements

According to the Acknowledgements section of the report:

·         In Hong Kong, NDI works with political parties and other democratic activists to encourage public discussion and debate on political reform.

The Institute provides technical assistance to Hong Kong political parties and civil society organizations seeking to strengthen their abilities to increase citizen participation in the Special Administrative Region’s political life.

Promise of Democratization Report 7 cover

Key findings of the report

The key findings of the report were:

Inviting international attention

The political evolution of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) should continue to command international attention not only because it provides a unique example of a polity in transition but also because it gauges China's tolerance for political experimentation in the only part of the country that has a constitution permitting gradual political reform (Page 1).

Principal Officials Accountability System

Political developments in Hong Kong provide a picture of a polity in transition from a colony under British sovereignty to a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. The Principal Officials Accountability System (POAS), newly implemented on July 1, 2002 is part of that continuing transformation (Acknowledgements).

Ministerial System

For a ministerial system to achieve good standing in terms of integrity, effectiveness and openness, the following requirements should be met:

·         Ministers must satisfy key integrity, competence and suitability assessments;

·         Ministers should be dismissed or resign from their portfolios for any serious maladministration, fraud, negligence, conflict of interest, corrupt practice or breach of the ministerial Code of Conduct. This requirement covers dismissal both for direct ministerial policy blunders and cases of significant operational or administrative failures within a department controlled by a minister;

·         Ministers should be accountable or responsible to their superiors, peers in the legislature and ultimately to the voters or the people generally through a system of checks and balances (Page 41).

Reference

¹The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong: Accountability without Democracy? The Principal Officials Accountability System in Hong Kong. NDI Hong Kong Report #7. 16 October 2002 Link to all Promise of Democratization Reports