“一国两制”下的若干宪政问题浅析

“一国两制”的理论和实践,给我国宪政理论提出了许多新课题。如“一国两制”的宪政涵义,“一国两制”与宪法的关系、“一国两制”与港澳基本法的关系、宪法与港澳基本法的关系等,用“一国两制”解决香港问题和澳门问题,不仅对解决台湾问题具有率先垂范的作用,而且能够证明“一国两制”是解决台湾问题的最佳模式。     

The Study of Public Administration in Hong Kong and Macao: Evolutionary Paths and Implications

Comparatively speaking, the birth and the growth of public administration programmes, at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, in Hong Kong and Macao have been a response to the increasing need for the training of students and civil servants in the discipline of public administration. Since the 1990s, the proliferation of Master of Public Administration (MPA) programmes in both the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions can be explained by the demand for local people to govern the two places in accordance with the principle of ‘one country, two systems’. The content of various MPA programmes also reflects the changing political and administrative circumstances; its public administration focus has been accompanied by core courses training students from a variety of disciplines, ranging from public finance to economics, from public policy analyses to globalization, and from regional planning to a deeper understanding of mainland Chinese government and politics. In both Hong Kong and Macao, some graduates from both the Bachelor and Master programmes have joined the civil service or enhanced their skills in public sector management and governance. Although the medium of instruction varies from one university to another, their programme objective shares one thing in common: the imperative of training existing civil servants and students to join the governments of Hong Kong and Macao. This paper compares and contrasts the development of public administration programmes in Hong Kong and Macao and examines its theoretical implications for the changing relations between politics and public administration.     

Preventive veto and obstructive veto: the imposition of public policy by organizations on the margins of government

This article argues that powerful organizations at the margins of government (i. e,, contractors, franchisers, quangos, state-owned corporations, etc.) which provide vital public services are able to impose public policy on the electorate and elected officials in democratic countries. These organizations' enormous resources, including not only their tangible assets, but also freedom from accountability and dependent clientele, constitute both a source of power and vital vested interests. Illustrating with the example of the Kupat Holim Sick Fund of Israel, it shows how when these interests are significantly jeopardized, the organizations impose veto power: a preventive veto at the policy making stage or an obstructive veto at the policy implementation stage. Both types of veto enable them to appropriate the major instruments of policy making - allocation, regulation, and restructuring - from elected government. This ability undermines the traditional relationship between the electorate and elected and raises questions about the risks to democracy inherent in the proliferation of such bodies on the margins of government.     

Reinventing the Hong Kong state or rediscovering it? From low interventionism to eclectic corporatism

Abstract

The low-intervention state of Hong Kong in colonial times did not originate from strong neo-liberal ideological convictions. It was an artefact of the colonial political configuration, a pragmatic governing strategy adapting to the political and economic needs at the time. Political changes, economic restructuring, divestiture and marketization of state institutions since the 1980s had brought a new state form after 1997. A new business and professional elite class, embedded in an eclectic corporatist structure, evolved and brought multilateral, ad hoc and particularistic bargaining, leading to more sectoral intervention after 1997. Fragmented state institutions nonetheless weakened state capacity, making it difficult for the post-1997 state to be highly penetrative, transformative or developmental.     

Japan: Still searching for a role

Japan's Rise to International Responsibilities: The Case of Arms Control, by Reinhard Drifte. Athlone Press, London, 1990. xi + 112 pp. £25. ISBN 0–485–11385–6.

Japanese Defence: The Search for Political Power, by S. Javed Maswood. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1990. ix + 113 pp. US$12.00. ISBN 981–3035–39–0.

The Emergence of Japan's Foreign Aid Policy, by Robert M. Orr Jnr. Columbia University Press, New York, 1990. x + 178 pp. $32.00. ISBN 0–231–07046–2.

Same Bed, Different Dreams: America and Japan—Societies in Transition, edited by Alan D. Romberg and Tadashi Yamamoto. Council on Foreign Relations Press, New York, 1990. xi + 138 pp. $14.95 paperback. ISBN 0–87609–082‐X.     

The story of two administrative states: state capacity in Hong Kong and Singapore

Abstract

Hong Kong and Singapore are both typical administrative states with an efficient administration and a vibrant market, which had achieved rapid economic growth in the past decades. This article examines the trajectory of their state capacity, highlighting recent problems and challenges. Based on a conceptual framework that captures and links up four dimensions – namely polity, bureaucracy, economy and civil society – their commonalities and differences in response are discussed. Their experience should be of particular relevance to transitional authoritarian states in Asia such as China, which faces similar challenges to reform in the arenas of politics, administration, economics and society.     

Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea

Given China's record of suppressing freedoms and brutalising nationalistically-distinct territories in its midst, the alarm of Hong Kong's 1997 status change from British to Chinese association was especially shrill. After more than a decade of Chinese association, some scholars remain pessimistic. Some have suggested that as if “by a thousand cuts” Hong Kong's autonomous powers will slowly succumb to full Chinese political assimilation. Others have suggested that Hong Kong's autonomy is already dead and remains vulnerable to the unilateral fiat of Chinese authorities. By contrast to these views, this paper will argue that Hong Kong is a polity whose constitutional order is defended by political entrenchment. It is a partially independent political entity which exercises constitutional powers that are robustly defended by the political-economic influence (rather than constitutional influence) which it exerts upon China's central government. As this paper will show, the fortunes of China's leaders are linked to the performance of Hong Kong's economy. And since the territory's economy rests upon the pillars of its autonomous institutions, press freedom, rule of law and civil liberties, this prevents maximalist interference from Beijing.     

The Politics of the Minimum Wage in Hong Kong

This article provides an account of the recent introduction of a minimum wage in Hong Kong in 2011. Traditional welfare state theories had their origins in rich democracies. We refine the theoretical arguments in accordance with the semi-democratic nature of Hong Kong. We argue that the legislation was initiated reluctantly by the business-friendly government under unfavourable economic conditions. Any subsequent concessions to labour were not attributable to labour strength or political oppositions, which were very weak. Instead, multiple miscalculations by the politically dominant business side allowed the labour movement to gain limited grounds throughout the struggle. We also apply our arguments to the case of Singapore, illustrating how welfare state theories can be adapted to less democratic systems.     

海南自由贸易港临时仲裁制度的建设研究

海南自贸港的仲裁机制应置于国际竞争中去考量。在海南自贸港中构建临时仲裁制度符合市场经济发展的规律和该制度自身发展的规律。尽管目前临时仲裁制度已在自贸区内有限开放,但临时仲裁制度在海南自贸港落地的障碍主要来自于我国仲裁机构的定位不合理,“三特定”的界限模糊,临时仲裁裁决的执行和认可缺乏规制,现有临时仲裁规则普适性的缺失。我国香港地区的临时仲裁的发展数据表明,成熟和强大的法律体系、临时仲裁的高度保密性、仲裁机构的有限介入和当事人的意思自治是该项制度迅速发展的重要原因,值得参考。海南自贸港在立法路径上可根据《立法法》对《仲裁法》第16条和第18条作出变通处理或者根据《立法法》对临时仲裁制度作出系统性的规定,并报全国人大常委会批准,应重新认识仲裁机构的促进性和服务性并高度尊重当事人的意思自治,还原临时仲裁的本质属性。     

香港与内地警察执法规范化建设之比较与思考

以公安机关执法规范化建设为视角,选取香港警队的执法主体、执法监督和执法保障制度与内地进行比较对照。由于体制不同以及自然条件、经济条件、历史渊源的差异,我们不可能全盘移植这些制度,但其先进的制度设计理念、立法思想却值得内地借鉴。相比香港,虽然内地构建和谐警民关系的目标与香港警察的执法理念异曲同工,并且公安信息化建设与香港警察对电子科技的运用也没有实质差距,但执法环境和执法保障问题对规范执法的制约却使内地的执法规范化建设任重而道远。