The 1996 Presidential Campaign in Taiwan

Abstract

This article explores how China's military exercises influenced the campaigns of the candidates in Taiwan's first presidential election in March 1996. It draws on our understanding of election campaigning in the West to demonstrate how candidates responded to (1) the advantages of incumbency; (2) the requirements of the modern mass media; (3) negative campaigning; and (4) the importance of finance and professionalism. It challenges the assumption that these trends represent an “Americanization” of campaigning, since traditional methods of voter mobilization remain crucially important in Taiwan's evolving electoral system.