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The Impact of External Change on Civil Service Values in Post-Colonial Hong Kong*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2015

John P. Burns  and
Li Wei
John P. Burns*
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong.
Li Wei
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
*
Email: [email protected](corresponding author).
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Abstract

Scholarly work in the 1990s indicated that the values of civil servants in late colonial Hong Kong were evolving from those of classical bureaucrats to those of more political bureaucrats as the political and social environment changed. Based on in-depth interviews with 58 politicians and senior civil servants carried out between 2009 and 2012, we argue that Hong Kong civil service values have adapted owing in part to external shocks such as regime change and governance reform. Still, traditional civil service values such as fiscal prudence and balancing various community interests continue to be prominent. We illustrate the influence of civil service values in two policymaking cases: small-class teaching and minimum-wage legislation.

摘要

1990 年代的文献表明, 香港殖民时代后期, 在变化了的政治和社会环境下, 公务员的价值观正从古典官僚型演变为政治官僚型。基于 2009–2012 年间对 58 位高级公务员和政治委任官员的深度访谈, 我们认为香港公务员的价值观因应外部冲击一包括政权变迁和治理改革一而发生了适应性变化。然而, 一些传统的公务员价值观如审慎理财及平衡社会不同利益仍然显著存在。我们用两个案例来说明香港公务员价值观对政策制定的影响: 小班教学和最低工资立法。

Keywords

Hong Kong civil service valuespoliticians and bureaucratspolicymakinggovernance reform香港公务员价值观政治家和官僚政策制定治理改革
Type
Articles
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 222 , June 2015 , pp. 522 - 546
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2015 

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Footnotes

*

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council in the production of this article.

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