Functional constituencies have long been a feature of Hong Kong's political landscape. Now, with half the members of Legislative Council (LegCo) elected from functional constituencies, they play a large and controversial part in Hong Kong's political system. Despite this, information about them is hard to find. The result of much arduous research, the contributions to this book provide a unique and essential compendium of information about functional constituencies in Hong Kong.

Functional constituencies define their voters in terms of class or occupation, business and professional interests. There are LegCo members representing teachers, accountants, the catering industry, the real estate industry, and more. Thus the role of half the legislature is to defend vested interests rather than the broader community interest.

This book provides detailed information on the relevant law of functional constituencies, their place in the Basic Law and with respect to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and their history; a full list of functional constituencies; and the size and make-up of their electorates, including how certain major companies may control large numbers of votes. Another chapter reports on a pioneering study which polled individual functional constituency voters to build up the first comprehensive picture of such electors. The impacts of the functional constituency members on social policy-making and on economic policy are also examined, and deleterious effects on economic efficiency of its entrenchment of vested interests are argued.

In a concluding chapter, Christine Loh explores the constraints for reform of LegCo and the various reform proposals that have been made and suggests how the democratic legitimacy of the Hong Kong system could be enhanced within the current constraints.