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Constitutional฀Conventions฀and฀Political฀Reform฀ Sonny฀L o฀ 1.฀Introductio n฀ The฀term฀"constitutional฀convention"฀has฀two฀meanings฀in฀political฀science.฀ First,฀it฀refers฀to฀the฀constitutional฀meeting s฀i n฀Western฀democracies฀suc h฀ as฀th e฀Unite d฀State s฀an d฀Australi a฀wher e฀politician s฀discuss ,฀deliberat e฀ and฀debat e฀amendment s฀t o฀the฀existing฀constitution. 1 ฀Second,฀it฀refers฀t o฀ the฀tradition s฀o r฀habit s฀o f฀politicians ,฀whic h฀ar e฀no t฀legall y฀binding .฀Suc h฀ traditions฀include ,฀fo r฀example ,฀th e฀resignatio n฀o f฀minister s฀wh o฀mak e฀ blunders฀o r฀hav e฀bee n฀involve d฀i n฀seriou s฀scandals .฀Thes e฀kind s฀o f฀ constitutional฀convention s฀exis t฀in฀many฀democracies,฀especially฀i n฀British฀ parliamentary฀systems, 2 ฀wher e฀democrati c฀norm s฀an d฀practice s฀ar e฀i n฀ place฀and฀become฀politica l฀traditions.฀ This฀pape r฀argue s฀tha t฀ther e฀i s฀a n฀urgen t฀nee d฀t o฀develo p฀bot h฀kind s฀o f฀ constitutional฀conventions฀in฀the฀Hong฀Kong฀Special฀Administrative฀Regio n฀ 1 ฀Followin g฀th e฀independenc e฀o f฀the฀American฀colonie s฀fro m฀Britai n฀i n฀1776 ,฀man y฀o f฀the฀existin g฀stat e฀ assemblies฀hel d฀convention s฀t o฀amend฀thei r฀constitutions .฀The฀nationa l฀constitutiona l฀convention ,฀which฀ took฀plac e฀i n฀Philadelphia฀fro m฀2 5฀Ma y฀to฀1 7฀September฀1787 ,฀was฀convened฀wit h฀the฀purpos e฀o f฀revisin g฀ the฀Articles฀o f฀Confederation.฀See฀Wasserman,฀Gary฀(1982) ,฀The ฀Basics฀of ฀American฀Politics, ฀Boston :฀ Little,฀Brow n฀an d฀Company ,฀p .฀22.฀For฀more฀informatio n฀o n฀constitutional฀convention s฀i n฀the฀Unite d฀States ,฀ see฀Wood,฀Gordon฀W.฀(1969) ,฀The ฀Creation ฀of ฀the฀American฀Republic ฀1776-1787, ฀Ne w฀York:฀WW฀Norto n฀&฀ Co.฀O n฀the฀subjec t฀o f฀Australian฀constitutiona l฀conventions ,฀Burto n฀writes:฀"Th e฀debates฀i n฀the฀ constitutional฀convention s฀an d฀i n฀Australia฀a t฀larg e฀i n฀the฀1890' s฀showe d฀vigour ,฀originalit y฀an d฀ independence.฀Th e฀constitutio n฀was฀consciousl y฀drawn ,฀by฀the฀prim e฀mover s฀i n฀its฀drafting,฀from฀man y฀ models:฀Westminster,฀Unite d฀States ,฀Canadian ,฀Swiss฀and฀so฀on."฀See฀Burton ,฀Gregory฀K .฀(n o฀date) ,฀ "Australia's฀Constitution :฀Ours฀Alone,"฀available฀onlin e฀a t฀ www.norepublic.con.au/Essays/Australian_Constitution.htm.฀Fo r฀mor e฀on฀Australian฀constitutiona l฀ conventions,฀se e฀Hoard ,฀Roger฀Sherma n฀(1917) ,฀Constitutional ฀Conventions:฀Their ฀Nature, ฀Powers, ฀and฀ Limitations,฀Boston :฀Little,฀Brown฀an d฀Company ;฀an d฀www.constitution,org/rsh/conconOO.htm .฀ 2 ฀Fo r฀details,฀see฀Heard ,฀Andrew฀D .฀(1989),฀"Recognizing฀th e฀Variety฀Among฀Constitutiona l฀Conventions, "฀ Canadian฀Journal ฀of ฀Political฀Science, ฀Vol .฀XXII,฀no .฀1 ;฀Marshall,฀Geoffrey฀(1997) ,฀Constitutional฀ Conventions:฀The ฀Rules฀and ฀Forms ฀of ฀Political฀Accountability, ฀London :฀Oxford฀Universit y฀Press .฀ 84฀Buildin g฀Democrac y฀ _ _฀ ™ _ _ # _฀ (HKSAR)฀a s฀part฀of฀the฀process฀of฀political฀reform .฀The฀people฀of฀Hong฀ Kong,฀includin g฀th e฀Government ,฀businesse s฀an d฀civi l฀societ y฀groups ,฀ should฀recognis e฀th e฀importanc e฀o f฀suc h฀convention s฀i n฀enrichin g฀th e฀ Basic฀Law฀and฀upholding฀the฀"one฀country,฀two฀systems"฀principle.฀ 2.฀Pre-1997฀Constitutional฀Conventions฀ A฀numbe r฀o f฀constitutiona l฀convention s฀existe d฀i n฀Hon g฀Kon g฀unde r฀ colonial฀rule ,฀bot h฀i n฀term s฀o f฀constitutiona l฀meeting s฀an d฀i n฀term s฀o f฀ political฀traditions฀and฀habits.฀Various฀groups฀in฀the฀Hong฀Kong฀community฀ organised฀meetings฀on฀several฀occasions฀in฀order฀to฀discuss฀constitutional฀ issues.฀While฀the฀majority฀of฀these฀meetings฀were฀initiated฀by฀civil฀society฀ groups฀an d฀no t฀necessaril y฀endorse d฀o r฀supporte d฀b y฀th e฀colonia l฀o r฀ British฀Government ,฀they฀nonetheles s฀represente d฀a n฀important฀politica l฀ development.฀Fo r฀example ,฀i n฀198 7฀an d฀1988 ,฀som e฀loca l฀politician s฀ organised฀constitutiona l฀meeting s฀t o฀discus s฀th e฀directio n฀o f฀politica l฀ reform฀i n฀Hon g฀Kon g฀and฀the฀proposa l฀t o฀introduc e฀direc t฀election s฀for฀ seats฀i n฀th e...

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