Assessing performance effectiveness of Functional constituency legislators (2004-2008), in the view of justifications of functional constituency

Abstract

Functional constituency (FC) is a unique component in Hong Kong’s legislature while remaining or removing it is a great controversy in the constitutional development discussion. Systems exist to serve certain functions and purposes, so does FC. The focus of this project is on the justifications of FC. By looking at the original purposes of FC, and the expected performance of functional representatives (FRs), the effectiveness of achieving these goals and duties should be the indicator of retaining or removing the system. FC was created by the colonial government to serve as a replacement of appointing unofficial social elites to the legislature. These professional and economic representatives can not only contribute expertise and knowledge to LegCo, but also represent different groups in the community. After the reunification, the Chinese government is in line with this idea by justifying FC is essential to achieve balanced participation. The report tries to use quantitative and qualitative studies to assess the performance effectiveness of FC in achieving the mentioned justifications. Using the performance of the Third term of LegCo, only few FRs managed to accomplish the justifications. For the rest of them, they failed to perform the duties of FR because of an overall low participation rate in the legislature; and also constraints from political affiliation.