Meeting Challenges in Policy Making and Public

Engagement

C.K. Law11/11/2010

Challenges

Due to Changes in our society Our political and constitutional structure

Dealing with such challenges

易Changes in our society

Individualism Consumerism Media influence Globalization Information society Civic Society development Growing diversity

IndividualismJimmy Carter, We are of course a nation of differences. Those

differences don’t make us weak. They’re the source of our strength.

Yes, differences make us stronger (part of Darwinism)

No, struggles and internal fights can be immobilizing and disabling

Individualism Closely associated with liberalism,

pluralism, existentialism, humanism, and laissez-faire governance

A catalyst of diversity Growing mistrust of politics and

political rhetoric from the centre of politics.

Evolving ConsumerismAbstract

consumption Identity Emotional

Abstract Consumption

Some LegCo members’ verbal assault on government officials meeting the need of ventilation towards grievance towards the government

Obama’s open and repeated accusation of top executives of financial institutions in Walls Street meeting the need of expressing anger among Americans

Emotive Consumption

Example: buying a home

SmallerOlderFar from city

BiggerNewerNear the city

Consumerism and Political Communications

Are people irrational? It is only rational in politics and policy

making, if we take into consideration both the rationality and irrationality of human nature, particularly the “wishes” and “expectations” of the people

Media influence

Take the followings as facts of life No news is good news Focus on sensation and emotive issues Information highly selective – “for the sake

of the readers” Spontaneous response instead of learned

response – can be misinformed and misleading.

Globalization and open society

Individuals in each society are opened to all different influences in cultures, values, and practices from the rest of the world

The more open the society (system) is, the more differentiated the individuals (elements) would be (General Systems Theory, 2nd law of Thermodynamics)

Information society

Empowerment– More access to information– Easier to networking people

Reinforcing individualism Subject to more influences and hence changes

in values, beliefs and practices more easily and quickly

Civic Society Development

Part of an international trend – CSOs’ presence in all international submits

CSOs getting more and more autonomous, smaller, larger in numbers, and

More dynamic (coalitions on issue base)

Growing diversity in values, views and behaviors

Due to Expanding individualism Hyper-pluralism Globalization and open society Information society

Growing diversity causing

More conflicts (particular in case when stakes are high, etc. urban redevelopment, XRL)

Lack of majority view, let alone consensus (e.g. health care financing, tax reform, urban renewal)

Issues of political and government structure

Bureaucracy Development of political culture Election system and political constitution of

the LegCo Relationship between LegCo and the

Administration One country two systems Civil servants and political appointees

Bureaucracy

Good in specialized, repetitive and routine tasks

Not equip with dealing with changing values (e.g. heritage preservation)

Poor in coordination and dealing with complex issues

departments tend to interpret departmental roles and responsibilities narrowly (Ombudsman, 2010)

Development of political culture

Political participation increasing since political reforms started in the 1980s

Increasing demand for accountability, transparencies, fairness, and integrity

Increasing demand for rights and benefits Increasingly overriding local interest

Political composition in LegCo

Fragmentation: In the 2008 election, no political party can gain more than 17% of the seats with all political parties holding no more than half the seats.

Representation: The issue of functional constituencies

LegCo

Limited power – limited responsibility Monitoring becomes Criticizing Political compromises are absent – Stand

firm is a “virtue” – Changing stance (轉軚 ) is a “sin”.

A statutory “pressure group” or “advocacy group

“Legcophobia”Fear of going to LegCo

Before July 1997 After July 1997Implemented Not

implementedImplemented Not yet

implementedcount 26* 7 4 21#Median 3 years 6 years

(* The recommendations of 2 reports were implemented after July 1997)(# The Government has announced not to implement the recommendations of 1 report, but no such announcement was made for the other 20 reports.)

Number of reports submitted by the Law Reform Commission (from 1980 to 2010)

One Country Two Systems

Issue of mistrust towards Beijing– 1/7/2003 and aftermath– Cao Erbao (曹二寶 ), Director, Research Section,

Central Liaison Office in HK, (Central Party School’s newspaper, January 2008) – two governing forces in HK

Basic Law – ensuring an executive led government – power centralized in the CE

Ensured a fragmented LegCo with limited power

Way ahead

Power Sharing Maximum transparency Development of political leaders E-government and e-engagement

Power Sharing

Sharing power with the public and with the LegCo

Sharing of information is sharing of power Community engagement – bottom-up and

ownership Distributed governance Constitutional reform

Transparency

Transparency is one of the bases of trust towards the government

Sharing of information increases Transparency and increases trust

Development of political leaders

Elections and Political parties Civil Servants

Non-political or nonpartisan? Revolving door? Ref. French 5th Republic

(Civil servants are stable, politicians come and go)

E-government and e-engagement

ICT creates opportunities Web 2.0 strengthens connectivity among

people but how about between the government and people?

“Facilitate the adoption of Web 2.0 technology by bureaux and departments in public engagement” (Policy Agenda, 2010, Chapter 5)

Manage risk with prudence