A Study on the Feasibility of the Official Appointment of Sub-ward (Li) Chiefs ¡X A Case of Kaohsiung City The purpose of this study was to propose the results of the empirical investigation utilizing the SWOT analysis of the official appointment of sub-ward (Li) chiefs, which revealed the high feasibility of the official appointment. The data germane to this study were disposed through documentary analysis research along with questionnaire survey research and observation research. The subjects of this exploration were categorized into two major groups. One is the public surveyed by telephone resulting in 1017 successful samples; the other is the local officials surveyed by questionnaires including 463 sub-ward (Li) chiefs with a return rate of 74.3% (310), and 271 sub-ward (Li) clerks with a high return rate of 88.2% (239). The results of the survey reveal high credibility which can be seen in chapter three. The results of official appointment were depicted as follows: 1. The advantages of the official appointment: (a) downsizing the administrative organizations, simplifying the administrative procedures, and increasing the effectiveness; (b) slimming down the manpower and cutting down the spending; (c) improving the relationships between the sub-ward (Li) administrative organizations and the community development associations; (d) reducing the expenditures for election and rectifying the vicious election practices; and ; (e) promoting the administrative efficiency without violating democracy. 2. The disadvantages of the official appointment: (a) violating the principles of democracy; (b) violating the principles of local self-governing; (c) increasing the workload after merging the positions of sub-ward (Li) chiefs and clerks; (d) diminishing sub-ward (Li) chiefs¡¦ enthusiasm towards their work; and (e) lowering the functions of community development associations. 3. The reflection of the official appointment: (a) enhancing the local harmony; (b) incurring criticism from the self-benefiting of without-pay elected sub-ward (Li) chiefs¡¦; (c) requesting the government to examine the overlapping functions of sub-ward (Li) chiefs and clerks; and (d) the official appointment of township chiefs becomes the best paradigm of that of sub-ward (Li) chiefs. 4. The threat of the official appointment: (a) accumulating resentment; (b) damaging people¡¦s rights by failing to precisely respond to local situations. Finally, the findings and recommendations of this study were as follows: 1. The author suggests that the government should be more determined to reasonably adjust the boroughs for sub-ward (Li) and village chiefs¡¦ ¡§equal pay for equal work;¡¨ meanwhile, as the number of boroughs decreases, the resistance for official appointment could be reduced and the workload of appointed sub-ward (Li) chiefs would be more even as well. 2. Not only does the official appointment of township chiefs promote administrative efficiency and economizes enormous expenditures, but whose successful experience in reform can be the example for the reform of sub-ward (Li) and village offices. 3. It is believed that appointed sub-ward (Li) chiefs will perform better than elected sub-ward (Li) chiefs. Although there are no existing rules about disciplining elected sub-ward (Li) chiefs, appointed sub-ward (Li) chiefs will be subjected to administrative disciplinary measures or even removed from positions for not fulfilling their duty. Hence, it would be easier to carry out the official appointment of sub-ward (Li) chiefs if borough offices can strengthen sub-ward (Li) chiefs¡¦ functions of reflecting people¡¦s opinions before the cancellation of the sub-ward (Li) chief elections. Key Word¡GSub-ward (Li) Chiefs ¡Bthe Official Appointment of Sub-ward (Li) Chiefs ¡BKaohsiung City ¡Bsurvey research