Taiwan S Democracy Challenged

A reassessment of the Chen Shui-bian era (2000-2008), a crucial period in Taiwan's political development.

Taiwan’s rapid industrialization during the 1960s and 1970s, combined with the democratic revolution that began with the lifting of martial law in 1987 were of deep historic importance. Over the next decade Taiwan’s "political miracle" matched its earlier "economic miracle" creating a vibrant liberal democracy complete with freedom of speech, association and assembly, rule of law, and competitive and fair multi-party elections. The continuation of these achievements and the new challenges that have surfaced are addressed in rich detail in the chapters of this volume by an international team of experts. One of the biggest such challenges is Mainland China’s economic success, which has added to the complexity of Taiwan’s economic and political policy options. A number of the contributors to this volume consider Taiwan’s response to China’s economic rise and show how Taiwanese companies have strategically taken advantage of the changing economic environment by moving up the value chain of production within Taiwan while also taking the opportunity to invest overseas. With chapters covering a wealth of topics including: Constitutional reform National identity Party politics Taiwan's development model Industrial policy Trade and investment Globalization Sustainable development Taiwan's Democracy will be of huge interest to students and scholars of Taiwan studies, Chinese politics and economics, international politics and economics, and development studies.

Taiwan faces many of the same challenges as most newly democratized nations such as the legacy of an authoritarian government, a traditional culture, ethnic division and non-majoritarian political institutions. Each chapter in this volume sheds light on the democratization process. The contributors examine questions concerning the state of political trust, ethnicity, democratic values and political institutions. In the post-Cold War era when America's foreign policy is focusing on how best to foster democratic transition throughout the world, the lessons that can be learned from Taiwan's democratization impart valuable lessons to students and scholars.

"This volume may become the definitive resource for understanding the Chen Shui-bian era--important for studying not only Taiwan¿s democratic development, but also democratic consolidation in general. The authors illustrate the complex, uneven, and multifaceted aspects of the era, also highlighting the 'unfinished' nature of this lived democratic experience." --Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, University of Richmond "A 'must read' collection.... This is by far the best treatment of democratic consolidation in Taiwan that I have seen." --Cal Clark, Auburn University When Chen Shui-bian, Taiwan¿s first non-Kuomintang president, left office in 2008, his tenure was widely considered a disappointment. More recent events, however, suggest the need for a reassessment of this crucial period in Taiwan¿s political development. Taiwan¿s Democracy Challenged provides that assessment, considering key facets of both the progress toward and the obstacles to democratic consolidation during the Chen Shui-bian era. Yun-han Chu is professor of political Science at National Taiwan University, Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science at Academia Sinica, and president of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation. Larry Diamond is senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Kharis Templeman is research associate at the Spogli Institute¿s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law and also manages the institute¿s Taiwan Democracy Program.

This book assesses the forces that led to the election of Tsai Ing-wen and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in 2016 and re-election in 2020, and provides the first comprehensive treatment of this pivotal period in Taiwan’s politics, policy, and international relations. The Democratic Progressive Party’s victory in Taiwan’s 2016 presidential and legislative elections marked several significant turning points. The third peaceful transition of power between political parties during Taiwan’s democratic era heralded further consolidation of Taiwan’s democracy, and Tsai Ing-wen’s election gave the Republic of China its first female president. Her administration has pursued an ambitious agenda of domestic and foreign policy reforms, and has faced challenges that include steering through economic transitions, addressing contentious issues of social justice, national identity and cultural change, and navigating an external environment defined by an increasingly powerful and hostile China, and a more supportive but less predictable United States. In Taiwan in the Era of Tsai Ing-wen, leading experts from the US and Taiwan chart the progress and problems of Tsai’s first term and the prospects for Taiwan during her second term and beyond. As a study of a crucial era of politics in Taiwan, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Taiwan studies, Political Science, Law, Economics and International Relations.

New Challenges for Maturing Democracies in Korea and Taiwan takes a creative and comparative view of the new challenges and dynamics confronting these maturing democracies. Numerous works deal with political change in the two societies individually, but few adopt a comparative approach—and most focus mainly on the emergence of democracy or the politics of the democratization processes. This book, utilizing a broad, interdisciplinary approach, pays careful attention to post-democratization phenomena and the key issues that arise in maturing democracies. What emerges is a picture of two evolving democracies, now secure, but still imperfect and at times disappointing to their citizens—a common feature and challenge of democratic maturation. The book demonstrates that it will fall to the elected political leaders of these two countries to rise above narrow and immediate party interests to mobilize consensus and craft policies that will guide the structural adaptation and reinvigoration of the society and economy in an era that clearly presents for both countries not only steep challenges but also new opportunities.

This unique volume highlights Taiwan's ongoing efforts to mediate between competing political actors, a means to ensure domestic stability and national security without severely affecting its continuous economic growth and sovereign status in the international society. Taiwan's Politics in the 21st Century concentrates on three general areas: domestic politics, political economy, and external relations. Written by prominent scholars in the field, including John Hsieh, Shelley Rigger, Cal Clark, Alex Tan, Joseph Wong, T Y Wang, Quansheng Zhao, Guoli Liu, and Chyungly Lee. It also provides an overview of Taiwan's process of democratic consolidation, unravels dynamic interactions among various domestic and international actors in policy design and implementation, and explores future challenges to Taiwan thus leaving readers with a better understanding of the political complexity of Taiwan's attempts to strengthen its democratic governance and institutions.

Taiwan's Politics in Action: Struggling to Win at the Ballot Box is about the most interesting and exciting aspects of Taiwan's politics: political competition in the form of electioneering, campaigns and voting. The author first analyzes the theories, constructs or simply ideas about elections, especially who wins them and why.The most discussed by the pundits and the scholars are the watermelon and the pendulum theory: voting as before or not. The economic, or pocketbook, theory is also popular — although whether this means economic growth or greater equity has changed. Which party or candidate has the most money is also predictive. Other constructs or simply ideas are also commonplace. Divide and conquer is another approach. Another is the best campaign agenda; so too picking the most attractive candidates. Professionalism in campaigning and the use of social media are also favorite ideas. So is the appeal to voters' ethnicity, espousing liberal or conservative ideas, using protest, focusing on constant concerns such as peace and corruption and finally, the appeals of populism and progressivism.The author then examines Taiwan's two most recent elections, the 2018 mid-term (or collection of local elections) and the 2020 national presidential and legislative election to apply the theories. The Nationalist Party or Kuomintang (KMT) won the former; the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the latter, giving the observer a choice of evidence about how to win.The author concludes that Taiwan's democracy is being challenged, but is still popular in spite of strong external forces and other worries.