Hong Kong Chief Executive Legitimacy / 香港特首認受性

Definition

Hong Kong Chief Executive Legitimacy is the source’s concept for the gap between executive authority and public recognition in the post-1997 chief-executive system.

Current Synthesis

The source argues that 董建華’s administration revealed a legitimacy gap built into the early Hong Kong Chief Executive / 香港行政長官 office. The chief executive was expected to lead through administrative authority and elite consultation, but lacked universal-suffrage authorization. During economic collapse, housing controversy, legal interpretation, SARS, and Article 23, that gap became politically explosive.

Key Claims

• The chief executive’s formal authority did not automatically produce public recognition.
• Lack of universal suffrage made crisis management harder when policy mistakes accumulated.
• Consultation with business and establishment elites could not substitute for broad democratic accountability.
• Beijing confidence and local public credibility became separate but both necessary survival conditions.

Evidence

• Structural claim: 董建華逝世：「愛國者元老」的香港人生 says Beijing’s design emphasized executive-led governance but lacked universal-suffrage legitimacy.
• Crisis evidence: 董建華逝世：「愛國者元老」的香港人生 places the Article 23 protests and Beijing’s loss of confidence as the end point of Tung’s governing crisis.
• Public-space contrast: 董建華逝世：「愛國者元老」的香港人生 contrasts Tung-era mass public pressure with today’s changed political atmosphere.

Counterevidence & Qualifications

The concept is based on the source’s interpretation and does not yet include legal defenses of the executive-led model, later electoral-system changes, or polling/election data across administrations.

What Changed

• Created the legitimacy concept from the Tung source.

Related Concepts

• Post-Handover Hong Kong Governance / 回歸後香港管治 - broader institutional frame.
• Small-Circle Election Legitimacy / 小圈子選舉認受性 - selection mechanism contributing to legitimacy limits.
• Business-Elite Rule in Hong Kong / 商界治港 - elite consultation model contrasted with public recognition.
• Hong Kong Article 23 Crisis / 香港二十三條危機 - event where legitimacy failure became visible.