1
1.
Introduction
1.1
Political appointees form an important part of most government structures.
Although the vast majority of posts are filled by career civil servants from within the
bureaucracy, a few of the key positions in each department may be filled from without.
They are appointed outside of the merit-based bureaucratic structure, normally by the
executive, and fulfil a variety of functions. This method of selecting candidates has
numerous benefits, but misuse of appointment powers can potentially hinder efficient
and effective government. The system of political appointment used, therefore, is an
important and worthy area of study since it is that system that will determine the
success or failure of politically appointed offices.
1.2
Selecting people from outside of the bureaucratic structure allows the
government to draw from a much larger pool of highly skilled people. Although there
may be qualified persons within the government, often the private sector offers those
with more varied experience that can benefit the government. Also, for many
positions it may be difficult to find people already in the government who have the
necessary skills. For example, it is uncommon for civil servants to have skills in
advocacy and public speaking1 and, thus, in most parliamentary systems it is
politicians in ministerial capacities that answer to parliament on behalf of their
respective departments. Furthermore, a specific office or task may require the person
to be outside the bureaucratic structure so that he or she may look upon it critically
and impartially. In Hong Kong, the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption
and the Ombudsman are two such positions. In both cases it would be inappropriate
for the post to be held by a senior civil servant or someone else who is deeply
entrenched in the bureaucracy.
1.3
Since the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 and, at an increased rate,
since the transfer from British to Chinese administration in 1997, Hong Kong, under
the provisions set forth in the Basic Law, has been in a state of political transition.
With the gradual shift towards a directly elected legislature and an evolving
executive-legislature relationship the need to re-examine Hong Kong\u2019s current
systems of appointment to office becomes increasingly important and the system will
need to adapt to the changing situation in the political arena. Hong Kong will have an
advantaged position since many critical analyses of other countries\u2019 systems have
been and continue to be conducted. Thus, policy makers can evaluate aspects of
different sys tems that may be suitable models for Hong Kong. Indeed the Legislative
Council Panel on Constitutional Affairs has already begun an in-depth look at the
future of Hong Kong\u2019 s political system and has ordered studies of various other
political systems.2 These studies will, however, broadly survey political systems as a
whole while this report will focus only on systems of political appointment to the civil
service.
1.4
The structure of this paper is set out in such a way so as to methodically
examine the different systems used by the United States and the United Kingdom for
1 See Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, Development of the Political System (2000), pp.5.
2 Legislative Council Panel on Constitutional Affairs, Report on the development of the political system
of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, June 2000 requested the Research Library Services
Division of the Legislative Council Secretariat to conduct a study entitled \u2018 Systems of Foreign
Government in Some Foreign Countries\u2019 .
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