STATE REFORMATION AND THE FORMATION OF A NEWLY EMERGING WELFARE STATE IN TAIWAN

Abstract

In postwar Taiwan, the legitimacy of the Kuomintang (KMT) regime had depended on the cold war structure and the civil war with the Communist Party. As the KMT regime penetrated Taiwanese society, it exercised tight control over the society through the medium of the strong party organization. However, in the process of democratization that started in the 1980s, the KMT's authoritarian political rule began to crumble, forcing the government to respond to people's demands in order to survive. The reform and improvement of the social security system in Taiwan were brought about against this backdrop of state reformation.