The Public Sector in Hong Kong

Preface

Preface Since the retrocession to China in 1997, the public sector in Hong Kong has experienced major problems and undergone significant changes. External pressures, internal civil service reform measures and a political climate very different from that of colonial times have contributed to uncertainty, a loss of direction, and relatively little achievement in the resolution of perennial policy issues. Externally, the government — previously seemingly immune from budgetary shortfalls — has been beset by periodic economic downturns that have seen it move into deficit with all the difficult political decisions that entails. It has also faced pressure from the sovereign power. Although the degree to which the Chinese government intervenes in Hong Kong affairs varies, often depending on its assessment of the national importance of the issue, it has been most clearly evident in the restrictions which it has placed on the pace of democratic development, in its interpretation of the Basic Law, and in its support for local political parties and groups sympathetic to its position. While this has influenced the political context in which the public sector works, the Chinese government has not overtly intervened in the affairs of the civil service or of most other public sector organisations. Internal reform measures have added to the turbulence. The immediate post-1997 emphases on greater managerial efficiencies and downsizing of the civil service have now been scaled back but they have left a legacy of organisational and personnel problems. The executive’s attempt to assert greater control over the civil service in the name of accountability has yet to be fully worked through and may well cause more disruption if the lines of command of the recent political appointments are not clearly delineated. The extension of the “accountability system” within the government suffers from the fundamental contradiction that the executive itself is appointed by the Chinese government and is not directly accountable to the people of Hong Kong. Despite the buffeting that the civil service has experienced from efforts to introduce more managerial practices and greater political control, the administrative culture of the civil service has proved to be remarkably resilient. It still possesses high administrative capacity in carrying out the routine implementation of policies which have long been accepted by the community. Where it faces difficulties is in formulating and implementing new policies. Its low policy capacity stands in marked contrast to its administrative performance and  Preface there is a substantial backlog of issues that have been addressed but have subsequently been abandoned or delayed. The principal reason for policy shortcomings has been the rise of civil society and the difficulty which the government has experienced in developing effective channels of communication with grass-roots organisations and in meeting their demands, inter alia, for universal suffrage and a directly elected Chief Executive. Hong Kong’s institutional framework allows for few mediating institutions between the government and the people. Political parties are weak because they cannot win office and are unable, in consequence, to aggregate demands or build credible policy platforms. They can provide no surety that, even if they win control of the legislature, their platforms will be translated into policy. For its part, the government makes policy, but it has no mandate from the people to do so. Its policy agenda cannot be taken as a package which has been supported by the electorate and it is, as a result, required to find elaborate justifications for its proposals. It claims to act in the best public interest; to consult on major new initiatives; and to be as efficient, responsive and responsible as possible. Some of those claims may be partially true. But when faced with a sceptical population, most of whom want a democratically legitimated government, they cut no ice. Each new proposal comes before an oftenrecalcitrant legislature and a highly critical public who are increasingly versed in the art of ensuring that policies of which they do not approve do not succeed. This book is an attempt to explain how the public sector has fared in this new political and economic environment. It seeks to describe the constitutional, organisational and policy problems that have confronted the public sector, to analyse the ways in which the government has tried to deal with those problems, and to suggest possible means of minimizing or resolving its difficulties. The research on which this book is based stems from a long-standing interest in public administration in Hong Kong. In 2005, some of the research findings were published in a book, Public Administration...