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7. Constitutional Conventions and Political Reform
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
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ConstitutionalConventionsandPoliticalReform SonnyL o 1.Introductio n Theterm"constitutionalconvention"hastwomeaningsinpoliticalscience. First,itreferstotheconstitutionalmeeting si nWesterndemocraciessuc h asth eUnite dState san dAustrali awher epolitician sdiscuss ,deliberat e anddebat eamendment st otheexistingconstitution. 1 Second,itreferst o thetradition so rhabit so fpoliticians ,whic har eno tlegall ybinding .Suc h traditionsinclude ,fo rexample ,th eresignatio no fminister swh omak e blunderso rhav ebee ninvolve di nseriou sscandals .Thes ekind so f constitutionalconvention sexis tinmanydemocracies,especiallyi nBritish parliamentarysystems, 2 wher edemocrati cnorm san dpractice sar ei n placeandbecomepolitica ltraditions. Thispape rargue stha tther ei sa nurgen tnee dt odevelo pbot hkind so f constitutionalconventionsintheHongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegio n 1 Followin gth eindependenc eo ftheAmericancolonie sfro mBritai ni n1776 ,man yo ftheexistin gstat e assemblieshel dconvention st oamendthei rconstitutions .Thenationa lconstitutiona lconvention ,which tookplac ei nPhiladelphiafro m2 5Ma yto1 7September1787 ,wasconvenedwit hthepurpos eo frevisin g theArticleso fConfederation.SeeWasserman,Gary(1982) ,The Basicsof AmericanPolitics, Boston : Little,Brow nan dCompany ,p .22.Formoreinformatio no nconstitutionalconvention si ntheUnite dStates , seeWood,GordonW.(1969) ,The Creation of theAmericanRepublic 1776-1787, Ne wYork:WWNorto n& Co.O nthesubjec to fAustralianconstitutiona lconventions ,Burto nwrites:"Th edebatesi nthe constitutionalconvention san di nAustraliaa tlarg ei nthe1890' sshowe dvigour ,originalit yan d independence.Th econstitutio nwasconsciousl ydrawn ,bytheprim emover si nitsdrafting,fromman y models:Westminster,Unite dStates ,Canadian ,Swissandsoon."SeeBurton ,GregoryK .(n odate) , "Australia'sConstitution :OursAlone,"availableonlin ea t www.norepublic.con.au/Essays/Australian_Constitution.htm.Fo rmor eonAustralianconstitutiona l conventions,se eHoard ,RogerSherma n(1917) ,Constitutional Conventions:Their Nature, Powers, and Limitations,Boston :Little,Brownan dCompany ;an dwww.constitution,org/rsh/conconOO.htm . 2 Fo rdetails,seeHeard ,AndrewD .(1989),"Recognizingth eVarietyAmongConstitutiona lConventions, " CanadianJournal of PoliticalScience, Vol .XXII,no .1 ;Marshall,Geoffrey(1997) ,Constitutional Conventions:The Rulesand Forms of PoliticalAccountability, London :OxfordUniversit yPress . 84Buildin gDemocrac y _ _ ™ _ _ # _ (HKSAR)a spartoftheprocessofpoliticalreform .ThepeopleofHong Kong,includin gth eGovernment ,businesse san dcivi lsociet ygroups , shouldrecognis eth eimportanc eo fsuc hconvention si nenrichin gth e BasicLawandupholdingthe"onecountry,twosystems"principle. 2.Pre-1997ConstitutionalConventions Anumbe ro fconstitutiona lconvention sexiste di nHon gKon gunde r colonialrule ,bot hi nterm so fconstitutiona lmeeting san di nterm so f politicaltraditionsandhabits.VariousgroupsintheHongKongcommunity organisedmeetingsonseveraloccasionsinordertodiscussconstitutional issues.Whilethemajorityofthesemeetingswereinitiatedbycivilsociety groupsan dno tnecessaril yendorse do rsupporte db yth ecolonia lo r BritishGovernment ,theynonetheles srepresente da nimportantpolitica l development.Fo rexample ,i n198 7an d1988 ,som eloca lpolitician s organisedconstitutiona lmeeting st odiscus sth edirectio no fpolitica l reformi nHon gKon gandtheproposa lt ointroduc edirec telection sfor seatsi nth e...