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China has promised to allow Hong Kong to hold democratic elections to choose the Chief Executive (CE) in the year 2017, but on one condition. A model of universal suffrage agreeable to China, Hong Kong’s CE and Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) (at least two-thirds of all members) has to be identified and enacted into local legislation in time for the 2017 CE election. This is a most important issue for Hong Kong and China. To satisfy this condition we need a credible and effective process.  We believe such a process must be one that is ‘bottom-up’ and draws upon a wide range of views in the community.

The Design Democracy Hong Kong website was built to promote a lawful and constructive bottom-up approach to constitutional and political reform in Hong Kong. It provides an online platform for anyone to learn about, design, discuss and debate different models of universal suffrage. With today’s (December 3) launch, users can design a system of electing the Chief Executive by working through a series of critical design questions. In Stage two, which will launch in early 2014, users will have the chance to design a model of universal suffrage for LegCo – in anticipation of full democratic elections promised for LegCo in the year 2020 (subject, also, to agreement on the above condition).

Design Democracy Hong Kong is a project of the Centre for Comparative and Public Law in the Faculty of Law, The University of  Hong Kong. The website is accessible in English and Chinese (traditional and simplified characters).

Key Features of Design Democracy Hong Kong
- Watch video clip interviews with politicians, lawyers, academics and others speaking on major reform issues.
- Engage in online forum discussions on key reform issues.
- Design a model of universal suffrage for the Chief Executive using the seven-part decision tree with audio introductions for each question.
- Share your model with friends using social media and use the built-in function to send your proposal directly to the Hong Kong government after their public consultation begins.
- See how your model compares with others on individual design features and overall model design.
- Read news and knowledge sections providing current and past information on the political systems of Hong Kong and other places.

For specific enquiries, you can email us at designdemocracyhk@gmail.com. 
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