Parties In Taiwan Research Articles

Outsourcing candidate selection

Conflict between factions has been identified as an important factor explaining different procedures of candidate selection. However, the question of what drives factions in choosing certain procedures over others remains under-theorized. This article argues that, when ranking their preferences for candidate selection procedures, factions are influenced by their electoral strategy. While clientelistic factions will push for candidate selection procedures that subordinate themselves to the logic of clientelistic exchange networks, programmatic factions will try to maximize the effectiveness of formal regulations. To demonstrate this relationship, the article studies the recent development of political parties in Taiwan and South Korea, where programmatic factions have ‘outsourced’ the authority to nominate candidates to external actors, thereby moving it beyond the reach of internal patron–client networks.

政黨認同者等於政黨鐵票？2000-2008總統選舉中選民投票抉擇之跨時性分析

Party identification has long been regarded as a major factor in determining the vote decision. However, in Taiwan's case, since the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) won the 2000 presidential election, Taiwan's party system changed dramatically, which certainly affected the electorate's party identification. Hence, this study would like to focus on the transition of Taiwanese voters’ party identification and the relationship between party identification and vote decision. The study found that the social structures of Taiwanese political parties are different in terms of age, education level, living area, race, and standpoint of cross-straits relations. As for the transition of party identification, the DPP has a stable block of party identifier (around 30%) and the number of Kuomintang's party identifier (KMT) is growing continually. Furthermore, party identification does affect the vote decision. The voter with a certain party identification tends to vote for the candidate nominated by the party he/she supports.

A DPP Perspective on Domestic and Cross-Strait Challenges for Taiwan

Abstract This article examines the challenges that Taiwan faces in its relationship with China. The analysis concentrates on the following policy categories: trade and economics, security and defense, diplomacy and international relations, and domestic politics. It also identifies the three challenges facing the Democratic Progressive party (DPP) as it exercises its role as the opposition political party in Taiwan.

The Entry of Mainland Chinese Investment into Taiwan

This article examines the issues related to the admission of mainland Chinese capital and enterprises into Taiwan triggered off by Taiwan's membership in the World Trade Organization, including the coordination of political views, the adjustments in policies, the revisions of statutes, and the setting up of administrative monitoring mechanisms in Taiwan. The issue of entry represents the interaction of economic and security interests on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and it reflects the Chinese leadership's united front offensive, the competition among the political parties in Taiwan, and the business community's articulation of its interests in the island. The analysis aims to illustrate legislative and other processes involved in the economic exchanges across the Taiwan Strait. These processes allow various parties concerned to set up obstacles that obstruct the desired economic exchanges. At the same time, the mutual economic interests, or at least the substantial economic interests on one side of the Taiwan Strait, constantly provide the momentum to overcome the obstacles. More importantly, the sophisticated business community can always find ways to overcome the obstacles in pursuit of their interests, for example, use of subsidiaries in tax havens.

Success and Failure of New Parties in Taiwanese Elections

This paper examines the development of new parties in Taiwan's post martial law era. After outlining the electoral records of the main attempts to challenge the electoral domination of the established parties, the variables determining new party success and failure are discussed. It is shown that if a new party has a convincing political platform, sufficient resources and can exploit its electoral environment, it can win seats in multi-party Taiwan.

Taiwan's Domestic Politics and Cross-Strait Relations

Previous articleNext article No AccessTaiwan's Domestic Politics and Cross-Strait RelationsYu-Shan WuYu-Shan Wu Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The China Journal Volume 53Jan., 2005Celebrating the Universities Service Centre for China Studies Published on behalf of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.2307/20065991 Views: 231Total views on this site Citations: 18Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright The China JournalPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Kevin T. Greene, Caroline Tornquist, Robbert Fokkink, Roy Lindelauf, V. S. Subrahmanian Understanding the timing of Chinese border incursions into India, Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 8, no.11 (Jul 2021).https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00843-5Ruoxin Zhu, Diao Lin, Yujing Wang, Michael Jendryke, Rui Xin, Jian Yang, Jianzhong Guo, Liqiu Meng Social Sensing of the Imbalance of Urban and Regional Development in China Through the Population Migration Network around Spring Festival, Sustainability 12, no.88 (Apr 2020): 3457.https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083457Yu-Shan Wu, Kuan-Wu Chen Domestic Politics and Cross-Strait Relations: A Synthetic Perspective, Journal of Asian and African Studies 55, no.22 (Mar 2020): 168–186.https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909620905071Chung-li Wu, Alex Min-Wei Lin Do Cohorts Matter? Cohort Analysis and Value-Difference Impressions of a Rising China, Political Studies Review 17, no.44 (Jul 2019): 391–415.https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929919864781Tomasz Legiedź From limited access to open access order in Taiwan, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy 24, no.11 (Sep 2018): 97–116.https://doi.org/10.1080/13547860.2018.1503767Yu-Shan Wu The DPP Ascendancy and Cross-Strait Relations, (May 2018): 177–206.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77125-0_8Kuan-Wu Chen, Yu-Shan Wu Power position and Taiwan policy: how Beijing responds to Taipei’s stimuli during the Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao periods, Journal of Contemporary East Asia Studies 6, no.22 (Oct 2017): 132–152.https://doi.org/10.1080/24761028.2017.1391620Dean P. Chen , ( 2017): 41.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47599-8_2Rongxing Guo Living in the Lands Threatened, (Feb 2017): 71–106.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48772-4_4Holin Lin, Chuen-Tsai Sun A Chinese Cyber-Diaspora: Contact and Identity Negotiation in a Game World, (Dec 2016): 179–209.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43817-7_8D. P. Chen Security, domestic divisions, and the KMT's Post-2008 'One China' policy: a neoclassical realist analysis, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 15, no.22 (Feb 2015): 319–365.https://doi.org/10.1093/irap/lcv001Charles Chong-han Wu Interest Similarity and Cross-Strait Peace, Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences 7, no.33 (Jul 2014): 451–470.https://doi.org/10.1007/s40647-014-0033-zChin-Hao Huang, Patrick James Blue, Green or Aquamarine? Taiwan and the Status Quo Preference in Cross-Strait Relations, The China Quarterly 219 (Jul 2014): 670–692.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741014000745V. O Kalenskiy, P. A Ivanov Treatment Methods of Posttraumatic Defects of Extremity Long Bones, N.N. Priorov Journal of Traumatology and Orthopedics 20, no.33 (Sep 2013): 81–87.https://doi.org/10.17816/vto201320381-87Joe Thomas Karackattu Taiwan’s Political and Economic Ecosystem, (Jul 2013): 9–27.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1278-2_2Jonathan Sullivan, Eliyahu V. Sapir Ma Ying-jeou's Presidential Discourse, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 41, no.33 (Feb 2019): 33–68.https://doi.org/10.1177/186810261204100303Frank Muyard Taiwanese National Identity, Cross-Strait Economic Interaction, and the Integration Paradigm, (Jan 2012): 153–186.https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137011053_7Lowell Dittmer Triangular Diplomacy Amid Leadership Transition, (Jan 2008): 179–197.https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230611931_10

Nested Pyramid Structures: Political Parties in Taiwanese Elections

The nature of the political party in Taiwan has been insufficiently problematized in recent writings on the island's elections. Based on field research this article argues that the informal structure of political support in Taiwan takes the shape of nested pyramid structures, built of successive dyadic support relations between politician and supporter and two politicians at different hierarchical levels, culminating in a handful of top political leaders. The political party is only the widest kind of support network, and in lower-level elections not the central agent. The dyads in Taiwan politics differ from traditional patron–client relations in being more dynamic, equal and voluntary. This informal political structure coupled with generally weak party loyalty and large benefits of incumbency produces pervasive party instability and subsequent election instability at higher election levels. The number of top political leaders and relations between them are critical in structuring the party scene.

Inter-Party Competition in Taiwan since the 1990s

This paper compares the state of party competition before and after the change of ruling party in Taiwan in 2000. First the balance of power between Taiwan’s main political parties is discussed—the KMT’s electoral hegemony has come to an end, the DPP has won two presidential elections and become Taiwan’s largest parliamentary party. However, there is much continuity in Taiwan’s party politics, with the same two parties electorally dominant today as at the outset of multi-party elections in the late 1980s. The second part of the article analyses election propaganda to consider how the policy content of party competition has changed and proposes that there have been more signs of continuity than change in party issue emphasis over the last four years.

Profiles of urine samples from participants at rave party in Taiwan: prevalence of ketamine and MDMA abuse

Drug abuse patterns are different due to cultural, social and geographical differences. Methamphetamine (MA) is the most important drug of abuse in Taiwan followed by opiates. Recently, there has been an increase of ketamine and MDMA abuse in disco dancing clubs. Here, we report the patterns of drug abuse by the participants in a metropolitan city disco-dancing club and the general public in Taiwan. The positive rates of common drugs of abuse detected in samples collected from participants in a dancing club were as follows: MDMA, 75.7%; ketamine, 47.0%; MA, 41.6%; opiates, 0%. Marijuana and cocaine were detected at much lower rates (3.4 and 4.7%, respectively). Ketamine and one of the amphetamines were detected together in 42.9% of the samples. The positive rates in samples collected from police detainees suspected of drug abuse in the general public were as follows: MA, 76.0%; OPA, 37.0%; MDMA, 6.0%; ketamine, 2.0%.

From Opposition to Power: Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party. By Shelley Rigger. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2001. 232p. $49.95

Until recently, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was a newly fledged opposition group trying to find its place in the turbulent process of Taiwan's democratization. But in March 2000, the DPP's candidate, Chen Shuibian, won the presidency, and in December 2001, the DPP replaced the former ruling party, the Kuomintang (KMT), as the largest party in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan. This dramatic rise to power and the party's current policies and future evolution are greatly illuminated by Shelley Rigger's up-close account of the DPP's history, organization, policies, and personnel.

The Transformation of the Kuomintang Party in Taiwan

Scholars of party change have extensively examine the question 'why do parties change?' in the advanced industrial democracies. Despite the extensive theoretical and empirical contributions of the extant literature, no systematic study has been done on formerly dominant parties in new and emerging democracies. This study extends the theoretical framework first developed by Harmel and Janda to party change observed in a formerly dominant party in Taiwan - the Kuomintang. Specifically, this article examines the role of electoral performance, leadership change, and dominant factions in effecting changes within the Kuomintang in Taiwan.

How Far Can Taiwan Go?

This article explores the possibility of Taiwan's moving away from the status quo by either seeking reunification with the mainland or pursuing de jure independence, and particularly focuses on the latter scenario. Clearly, immediate reunification is not a viable option, but a declaration of independence may be. However, given the public attitude on the national identity issue, which underpins Taiwan's party structure, it is very difficult for the independence forces to control a majority of seats in the parliament. Thus, as long as the ROC constitutional structure remains essentially parliamentary, the chances that Taiwan will declare independence are not that great. Moreover, China's threat to use force against Taiwan if Taiwan declares independence and the tremendous economic interests involved in doing business with China, coupled with the US insistence on peace and stability in the region, all keep Taiwan from taking drastic measures in pursuit of independence.

The rise of the opposition party in Taiwan: explaining Chen Shui-bian’s victory in the 2000 Presidential election

The 2000 Taiwan presidential election drastically changed Taiwan’s political landscape. For the first time in Taiwan, an opposition party candidate, Chen Shui-bian, won the presidential race, receiving 39.3% of the popular vote. To understand the factors that determined the election’s outcome, we analyze survey data from the 2000 presidential election. First, we study whether a divided ruling party was the cause of the opposition party candidate’s victory. That is, would the ruling party have lost if one of the trailing candidates had opted not to run? Second, there were charges following the election that the Kuomintang misled people into believing their candidate was still leading in the polls, when he was really running third, and this misinformation led people to vote differently than they would have otherwise, possibly giving the election to the opposition party candidate. We examine the validity of this claim by measuring the degree to which strategic voting could have influenced the outcome. Third, to understand the underlying dimensions of the electoral competition in Taiwan and to understand each candidate’s electoral support, we run a multivariate statistical model to study how strategic voting, candidate personalities, party identification, and issues influenced respondents’ vote choices. Finally, we discuss the effects of election polling data on election outcomes.

Whither the Kuomintang?

In the 2000 presidential election, the Kuomintang (KMT) lost badly, but it remains the majority party in the Legislative Yuan. In the foreseeable future, it will continue to be a formidable force in Taiwanese politics as long as it is able to hold itself together. Its strength derives essentially from its unique position along the national identity spectrum, the most salient division underpinning Taiwan's party structure. Given the stability of voters' distribution on the national identity issue, the relative strength of the pan-KMT and the pan-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) camps – referring to the two major parties and the parties split from them – will remain roughly the same. Under the circumstances, the major challenge confronting the KMT does not come from the DPP, but from within the pan-KMT camp. Here, other issues and even personalities may play a much more important role in shaping the configuration within the pan-KMT camp, thus affecting the KMT's overall strength.

Taiwan's Party Primaries in Comparative Perspective

There has been a lack of research into candidate selection outside the developed world. In this paper we attempt to fill this gap, with a detailed examination of the factors leading to the introduction of party primaries, their operations and their future prospects, in a third wave democracy, Taiwan. Although Taiwan is a late democratizer, the high degree of party institutionalization makes it more appropriate to compare its nomination system with those of older political parties, we particularly contrast it with the leading German and British political parties. Our discussion also finds many similar trends with developments of intra-party democracy in European parties, particularly in terms of a decentralization of candidate selection and reduced mediation between party centre and members. In addition, despite technical changes in electoral campaigning, parties in Taiwan have not abandoned the mass membership model. In Taiwan, direct primary elections have been a controversial subject. By analyzing relevant data, we argue that the core problem of the party primary was its lack of fairness, because party cadres tried to monopolize the candidate selection and thus failed to remain neutral. We find signs that leaders in all parties are wary of allowing inner party democracy to go too far and losing their control over nomination. When the party centre fears the wrong candidates will be selected, they are prepared to manipulate the rules in their favour or re-centralize the selection process.

Can Duverger's Law be extended to SNTV? The case of Taiwan's legislative Yuan elections

Duverger's Law relating the single-member plurality system and the two-party system has recently been extended to the single nontransferable vote (SNTV), a system used in Japan prior to 1994 and in use in the Republic of China on Taiwan. The extended Law suggests that in districts in which there are M winners, there will be M+1 viable candidates. Our analysis of the four Legislative Yuan elections in Taiwan since 1986 offers support for this extension in districts with small magnitudes, but it also confirms that the larger the district magnitude, the more likely it is that the number of candidates will be greater than M+1. We explain this result on the basis of the lower reliability of information when the number of candidates is large and on the deceptive nature of small vote percentages. Evidently as a direct consequence of the larger numbers of candidates, the larger the district magnitude the more proportional the electoral results tend to be, albeit up to a point, due to differential degrees of organization among the political parties in Taiwan.

Electoral Politics in Taiwan

Electoral politics in Taiwan has undergone drastic changes in the past few years. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), established in 1986, has proven to be a viable political force, challenging the long-ruling Kuomintang (KMT). The KMT's dominance has been further threatened by the defection of some KMT members, who formed the New Party (NP) in 1993. In the 1995 legislative Yuan election, the NP won 21 out of 164 seats, the DPP won 54 seats (an increase of two seats), and the KMT won 85 seats, permitting it to remain the ruling party. The objective of this article is to study the interaction between policy formation and electoral competition in the Republic of China. We assume that, all things being equal, voters tend to support the party whose platform is closer to their ideal points on issues. Therefore, given the preference distribution of voters on issues, parties form a policy platform to attract electoral support. Accordingly, we hope to understand what issues have a significant influence on voters in their choice of parties in Taiwan. In section 1, we establish a general framework of policy formation and electoral politics. In section 2, we examine the process by which parties in Taiwan jockey for positions on issues as well as their effort to manipulate the salience of various issues. In section 3, we draw conclusions from this analysis of Taiwan's electoral process.

Salient issues in Taiwan's electoral politics

Electoral politics in Taiwan has undergone drastic change in the past few years. The Democratic Progressive Party was established in 1986 and has proven to be a viable political force challenging the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) which has been the dominant party in Taiwan since 1945. The dominance of the KMT in Taiwanese politics was further threatened by the defection of some KMT members to form the New Party. The new configuration of Taiwan's party system seriously complicates Taiwan's electoral politics and increases uncertainty over the electoral fortune of each political party in future elections. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of issues in voters' evaluations of the political parties. Information on issue positions and salience and their impact on vote choice will be helpful to understand each party's strategy in formulating its party platform to compete for votes. Survey data from the 1993 election of the county magistrates and city mayors in the Republic of China on Taiwan, collected by the Election Study Center of National Chengchi University in February 1994, are used to explore voters' preferences; their perception of the parties' positions on important issues; and the weights they attach to different issues. We employ a spatial model of party competition to investigate the impact of the issues and party identification on voters' evaluation of the parties' performance.

Political Change in Taiwan: The Rise of Kuomintang Factions

Research Article| May 01 1996 Political Change in Taiwan: The Rise of Kuomintang Factions Steven J. Hood Steven J. Hood Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Asian Survey (1996) 36 (5): 468–482. https://doi.org/10.2307/2645494 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Steven J. Hood; Political Change in Taiwan: The Rise of Kuomintang Factions. Asian Survey 1 May 1996; 36 (5): 468–482. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/2645494 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAsian Survey Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1996 The Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The Evolution of Political Parties in Taiwan

(1989). The Evolution of Political Parties in Taiwan. Asian Affairs: An American Review: Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 3-21.