[1]: 392 Hsiao Kung-chuan points towards the practical difficulties of properly implementing the system but more significantly notes "the pao-chia proved an effective deterrent only in times of relative tranquility.
"[1]: 392 In fact since the Qing government extended the system to Taiwan, baojia was never universally applied and lacked proper supervision.
[2]: 48 Goto Shinpei an advocate for the use of local customs in ruling Japan's colonies saw the potential for the baojia system to be an "effective tool for social control.
The communities were closely monitored with household heads having to report any change in the residence of his home including over night visitors.
Goto Shimpei believed that collective responsibility was an effective method of social control because it was based on the "solid ground of obligations, kinship relations, and tradition.
[1]: 398 Hoko headmen would select able-bodied males between the age of 17 and 40 to join the militia corp consisting of members from other ko units in the same locality.
"[2]: 81 The Hoko system faced the risk of overhaul in the 1920s where its rules of collective responsibility were seen as archaic in a time of increasing individualism.
Critics of the system deemed it racially discriminatory considering it was only enforced on Taiwanese nationals, who also had to pay the corresponding hoko fees in addition to their normal taxes.
[2]: 499 This manifested itself in a petition, led by Yang Chi Chen for the hoko system's abolition being presented the Japan's 44th Diet in August 1921.