000 01635pab a2200181 454500
008 180718b2017 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100 _aLee, Eliza W.Y.
245 _aThe "Principal Officials Accountability System": its underdevelopment as a system of ministerial government
260 _c2017
300 _ap.120-134.
362 _aJun
520 _aThe Principal Officials Accountability System (POAS), which was established in 2002 by the then Chief Executive, Tung Chee Hwa, marked the beginning of a Hong Kong-style system of ministerial government. As a major attempt at institutional reform in the postcolonial era, the reform has so far invited more negative than positive appraisals about its impact on public governance. Academic critiques, however, have barely touched on the problem from the perspectives of institutional design and development. Accordingly, this article analyses the institutional characteristics of the POAS as a ministerial system, and how these characteristics have shaped the working relationships between politicians and bureaucrats. The underlying argument is that, after one and a half decades, the POAS remains underdeveloped. This state of underdevelopment is the outcome of institutional change through incremental reforms leading to disjointedness and incoherence. There are worrying signs that under an increasingly authoritarian system, the core values of the civil service are gradually being eroded.
650 _aCivil service - Hong Kong
650 _aCivil service
700 _aYeung, Rikkie L.K.
773 _aAsia Pacific Journal of Public Administration
909 _a114900
999 _c114894
_d114894