The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

NDI is working to support political reform in Hong Kong, including strengthening political parties and civil society organizations. While civil liberties continue to be upheld in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), there has been limited progress toward direct elections for the Chief Executive and the LegCo, which the Basic Law allows for as early as 2007. The executive is not accountable to the public through direct elections since the Chief Executive (CE) is elected by a select group of 800 individuals who form the Election Committee. The "executive-led" government has not built a strong relationship with any of the political parties in the Legislative Council (LegCo), Hong Kong's legislature. The LegCo has relatively narrow powers with no role in forming a government. In addition, only half of the LegCo is elected through universal suffrage.

Political Situation

On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty, beginning its fundamentally important experiment of "one country, two systems." Since the handover, the world has closely watched this experiment unfold, gauging the progress of democratization in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

While civil liberties continue to be upheld in the HKSAR, Hong Kong falls short of achieving a fully democratic political system. The executive is not accountable to the public through direct elections since the Chief Executive (CE) is elected by a select group of 800 individuals who form the Election Committee. The "executive-led" government has not built a strong relationship with any of the political parties in the Legislative Council (LegCo), Hong Kong's legislature. The LegCo has relatively narrow powers with no role in forming a government. In addition, only half of the LegCo is elected through universal suffrage; the rest are indirectly elected through special interest groups called "functional constituencies."

The Basic Law, Hong Kong's "mini-constitution," states that universal suffrage is the "ultimate aim" for electing the CE and entire LegCo. Pro-democracy activists had hoped that universal suffrage would apply to the 2007 CE and 2008 LegCo elections, following a 10-year transition period after the handover. However, in April 2004, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (SCNPC) in Beijing ruled out universal suffrage for Hong Kong in the 2007 and 2008 elections. The SCNPC pointed out that the Basic Law does not specify a time frame for universal suffrage; rather, it states that while universal suffrage is the "ultimate aim," it will be based on the "actual situation" and "the principle of gradual and orderly progress."

In December 2007, in response to a report submitted by Chief Executive Donald Tsang on Hong Kong's constitutional development, the SCNPC again ruled out direct elections for the CE and entire LegCo in 2012. However, they stated that the CE may be elected by universal suffrage no earlier than 2017 and "thereafter, all the members of the Legislative Council may be elected by universal suffrage." That decision left 2020 as the earliest year the entire LegCo could be directly elected. With a provisional timetable set, electoral reforms that are undertaken in the coming years will be critical to achieving the "ultimate aim."

In November 2009, the HKSAR government released a long-awaited proposal on constitutional reform options for public consultation. The public consultation period closed on Feb. 19, 2010. Decisions about electoral reforms to be taken in 2012, when the next LegCo and CE elections will be held, are seen as pivotal for progress on universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong Report Series

Since 1997, NDI has conducted a series of missions to Hong Kong to consider the development of the HKSAR's "post-reversion" election framework, the status of autonomy, rule of law and civil liberties under Chinese sovereignty, and the prospects for and challenges to democratization. NDI has published an ongoing series based on these assessments entitled, The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong. NDI meets extensively with Hong Kong government officials, political party leaders, election administrators, civil society and business representatives, legal and academic experts, and the diplomatic community. NDI's latest assessment was of the September 2008 LegCo elections.

Political Party Programs

NDI offers technical assistance to all Hong Kong political parties and political groups—both pro-Beijing and pro-democracy—seeking to increase their ability to engage in the HKSAR's political life, addressing issues such as membership recruitment; media relations; communicating with constituents; voter contact; and fundraising. NDI does not provide funding to any political party or political group in Hong Kong.

In 2005, NDI initiated a six-month young political leaders program focused on training a core group of rising party and political group members in political communications skills. In 2006, NDI launched a District Council Campaign School for Candidates and Campaign Managers in the lead-up to the 2007 elections.

NDI also seeks to bring political parties, government leaders, and civil society actors together in public forums to examine issues such as political party development, the role of parties in Hong Kong and political reform. For example, the latest conference "Hong Kong Political Reform Series – Will it Break the Deadlock?" held in January 2010 and co-organized with the University of Hong Kong's (HKU) Centre for Comparative and Public Law and the Centre for Civil Society and Governance, focused on possible reforms of the systems for electing the CE and the LegCo, with an emphasis on options for reforming the functional constituencies based on the government's public consultation proposal. The first conference in the series was held in October 2009, just prior to the government's release of its public consultation document on constitutional reforms for 2012.

Public Opinion Polls

NDI has supported public opinion polls by the HKU Public Opinion Programme and the Hong Kong Transition Project (HKTP) at Baptist University, which have focused on topics such as public attitudes toward constitutional reform and Hong Kong's political parties, as well as attitudes towards governance. The latest HKTP report Birdcage or Framework? is based on polls of public attitudes towards the structure of functional constituencies and whether, how and what form they should take if retained. The report also charts a possible roadmap on constitutional reform in line with "gradual and orderly" progress.

Youth Public Participation

In recent years, NDI has worked with the Government and International Studies Department of Baptist University and the Hong Kong America Centre to encourage youth participation in public policy areas. The Institute launched a youth program in September 2007 with the first university student summit, where students from across Hong Kong reviewed and responded to the government's Green Paper Consultation on Constitutional Development. In November 2008, NDI and its partners co-organized a summit for students from eight Hong Kong universities, titled Regeneration. The students worked in campaign teams to devise campaign strategies and materials, and took part in a set of mock debates around the issues of constitutional reform, environmental regulation, and education reform. Participating students then voted for a winning party in a mock election. In December 2009, the Institute and its partners jointly organized a Climate Change Simulation with eight teams of students each playing the role of a major country in a simulation, negotiating their own version of the United Nations (UN) treaty on climate change. After the simulation, a live webinar was held with Copenhagen Business School, directly linking students with a panel of experts who had followed the UN conference in Copenhagen.

In February 2010, the Institute and its partners organized a non partisan public debate on constitutional reform in Model UN format. Students assumed the roles of legislators and represented their views on constitutional reform in an open debate using the rules of the Legislative Council. After this exercise, the students reflected on their own views to draft a consensual document representing their ideas and aspirations for constitutional reform. Students learned parliamentary process and negotiating skills in melding a variety of opinions into a consensus. The students' proposal was submitted to the government as part of the public consultation process.

Women's Political Participation

In 2007, the Institute launched a women's political participation program, working with the Women's Political Participation Network (WPPN) to enhance women's participation in policy-making, encourage increased participation in politics, and ensure that women's issues are taken into account in the policy-making process.

Civil Society

NDI continues to support civil society efforts to address good governance and democratization in Hong Kong. In March 2005, NDI and Civic Exchange co-hosted a workshop to explore constitutional reform in Hong Kong. In July of the same year, NDI supported a public forum jointly conducted by the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute (HKPRI), Civic Exchange, and SynergyNet to discuss relevant topics for Hong Kong's governance and suggest what the new CE could do regarding these issues. Academics, politicians, journalists and representatives from other sectors of civil society came together to debate the issues.

In 2006, NDI supported Civic Exchange's production of a bilingual "citizens manual" to help members of the public and non-governmental organizations understand and utilize the recently amended Town Planning Ordinance that allows for greater citizen participation in governance, as well as a parallel manual for town planning board members to better understand their responsibilities.

In June 2007, NDI organized a conference with Civic Exchange, HKPRI, and SynergyNet to engage the general public to review the HKSAR's governance, social and economic developments over the past decade. The conference explored the direction of future developments in Hong Kong. Also in 2007, NDI supported SynergyNet's "Survey on Opinion Leaders' Attitude Towards Post 1997 Development" as part of a governance survey in light of the tenth anniversary of the handover.

In 2009 and 2010, the Institute has been supporting activities that foster open discourse on constitutional reform issues and encourage substantive dialogue among political actors, the government, civil society and the public on establishing a roadmap to universal suffrage by 2017 for the CE and 2020 for the LegCo. In 2009, NDI assisted local think tank SynergyNet in conducting a review of legislative councilors' performance over 2008 and 2009. This review measured the performance of councilors and parties in LegCo against quantitative and qualitative indicators, before and after the September 2008 LegCo elections. The performance review is aimed at reinforcing public accountability in Hong Kong's political system. NDI continues to collaborate with civil society organizations such as the HKTP, SynergyNet, WPPN and the City University Government in Asia Research Centre to expand the awareness and participation of different sectors of Hong Kong society in the consultation process.

Selected Publications

• Calm After the Storm? Hong Kong People Respond to Reform, October 2010

• Birdcage or Framework? Considering What Comes Next in Constitutional Reform, July 2, 2009

• The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong: 13 Report Series

• Timetables & Destinations: Hong Kong perceptions and politics after the 2017-2020 time frame ruling, August 22, 2008

• Hong Kong, SAR: The First 10 Years Under China’s Rule, June 1, 2007

• Contesting Campaigns in Hong Kong: A Critical Look at Infrastructure and Practice, July 1, 2006

• Focus Group Research Report on Political Parties in Hong Kong, June 15, 2006

• Parties, Policies and Political Reform in Hong Kong, May 1, 2006

Contact Information

For more information about these programs, use our contact form or contact:

Hong Kong
Belinda Winterbourne, Resident Director
+852 2547 2400

Washington, D.C.
Marjan Ehsassi, Program Manager
(202) 728-5405

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