Comparative Research On Accountability Systems In China HK And China Mainland

The 1980s witnessed a series of profound public administrative reforms around the world. Each nation in the international community began to enhance the sense of responsibility of government officials aiming at building a more responsible government. As a regional government under the PRC central government, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with its Principal Officials Accountability System offers much beneficial implication as for how to reform and improve the administrative accountability system in mainland China. In effect, Principal Officials Accountability System in Hong Kong is quite efficient, while the mainland pattern still has many shortcomings. In particular, practical research around how to construct a unified legal accountability system and build a responsible government adhering to the rule of law cannot meet the present demand of socialist political civilization in China. Administrative accountability system implies a shift in the working model of the government from rarely or passively responding to grassroots'opinions to reacting actively. Officials, with the regulation of the accountability system, are supposed to get a better and fresher understanding as to where their authority is from, how to make use of it according to legal principles and aims and how to internalize this awareness in daily work with a high sense of responsibility.It was in 2003 when SARS spread violently that people in mainland China got to know the concept of administrative accountability. During the battle against the epidemic, Zhang Wenkang, minister of the Ministry of Public Health, and Meng Xuenong, Mayor of Beijing municipality were removed from their positions for poor leadership. In its wake, almost a thousand officials were deprived of their power for incompetence, which made an unprecedented accountability storm in the political history of China. Since then, a number of officials have been punished for their accountability for certain accidents; some others resigned themselves. The past six years saw great progress in the evolution of accountability system in China:this system is being carried out in all fields; the number of officials held accountable for accidents is increasing; accountability system has also reached the local level. But there is still a long way to go before it is truly efficient. Problems with the present system are as follows:the legal basis of it is not solid; it is far from being a regular habit and custom in the political realm of China; the institutional guarantee is not yet adequate enough.In doing research, this thesis follows some traditional ways, such as document study, data collection and analysis, historical study and comparative study. Besides, the means of case study and practical investigation are added to compare the Principal Officials Accountability System in Hong Kong with the Administrative Accountability System in mainland China from background, content, practical effect and evolution. This thesis not only points out some theoretical problems and mistaken thoughts about the accountability system in mainland China, but also offers a guideline for its future development. Therefore it can serve as a good reference for the perfection and development of this system in China. In this sense, this thesis has implications for both theory and practice.