Abstract
Most studies agree that Taiwan has a consolidated democracy. But while the level of democracy has been fairly constant for the past 20 years, the quality of democracy has varied considerably. This chapter examines the quality of democracy in Taiwan with a variety of indicators, analyzes the institutional sources of decline in the quality of democracy, and identifies the challenges facing the Tsai administration.
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- 1.
Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlino, eds., Assessing the Quality of Democracy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005).
- 2.
Jennifer Gandhi and Ellen Lust-Okar, “Elections under Authoritarianism,” Annual Review of Political Science 12 (2009): 403–422; Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010).
- 3.
Shiow-duan Hawang, “Executive-Legislative Relations Under Divided Government,” in Taiwan’s Democracy Challenged: The Chen Shui-bian Years, ed. Yun-han Chu, Larry Diamond, and Kharis Templeman (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2016), 123–144.
- 4.
Dafydd Fell, Party Politics in Taiwan: Party Change and the Democratic Evolution of Taiwan, 1991–2004 (London: Routledge, 2005); see also his later studies: “The Polarization of Taiwan’s Party Competition in the DPP Era,” in Taiwan’s Democracy: Economic and Political Challenges, ed. Robert Ash, John W. Garver, and Penelope Prime (London: Routledge, 2013), 75–98; and “Taiwan’s party system in the Ma Ying-jeou Era,” in Political Changes in Taiwan under Ma Ying-jeou: Partisan Conflict, Policy Choices, External Constraints and Security Challenges, ed. Jean-Pierre Cabestan and Jacques deLisle (New York: Routledge, 2014), 37–59.
- 5.
Shelley Rigger, “Political Parties and Identity Politics in Taiwan,” in New Challenges for Maturing Democracies in Korea and Taiwan, ed. Larry Diamond and Shin Gi-wook (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2014), 106–132.
- 6.
Dankwart A. Rustow, “Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model,” Comparative Politics 2:3 (April 1970): 337–63.
- 7.
Eric Chen-hua Yu, “Partisanship and Public Opinion,” in Taiwan’s Democracy Challenged: The Chen Shui-bian Years, ed. Yun-han Chu, Larry Diamond, and Kharis Templeman (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2016), 73–94.
- 8.
Hawang, “Executive-Legislative Relations Under Divided Government,” 123–144.
- 9.
Jessica Drun and Fa-Shen Vincent Wang, “DPP-Dominated Taiwanese Legislature Begins Session,” China Brief 16:3 (2016), accessed DATE?, https://jamestown.org/program/dpp-dominated-taiwanese-legislature-begins-session/.
- 10.
Su Chi, “An Overview of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan: Procedures and Practices” (presentation at Brookings Institution on Taiwan’sLegislative Yuan: Oversight or Overreach?, Washington, DC, June 23, 2014). https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/23_taiwan_legislative_yuan_corrected.pdf.
- 11.
Timothy Rich, “Have Efforts to Reform Taiwan’s Electoral System Stalled?,” Taiwan Sentinel, January 19, 2017, accessed February 7, 2017, https://sentinel.tw/reform-tw-electoral-stalled/.
- 12.
Philippe C. Schmitter and Terry Lynn Karl, “What Democracy Is…and Is Not,” Journal of Democracy 2.1 (Summer 1991): 75–88.
Bibliography
Chi, Su. 2014. An Overview of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan: Procedures and Practices. Presentation at Brookings Institution on Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan: Oversight or Overreach? Washington, DC, June 23. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/23_taiwan_legislative_yuan_corrected.pdf.
Diamond, Larry, and Leonardo Morlino, eds. 2005. Assessing the Quality of Democracy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Drun, Jessica, and Fa-Shen Vincent Wang. 2016. DPP-Dominated Taiwanese Legislature Begins Session. China Brief 16 (3). Accessed https://jamestown.org/program/dpp-dominated-taiwanese-legislature-begins-session/.
Fell, Dafydd. 2005. Party Politics in Taiwan: Party Change and the Democratic Evolution of Taiwan, 1991–2004. London: Routledge.
———. 2013. The Polarization of Taiwan’s Party Competition in the DPP Era. In Taiwan’s Democracy: Economic and Political Challenges, ed. Robert Ash, John W. Garver, and Penelope Prime, 75–98. London: Routledge.
———. 2014. Taiwan’s Party System in the Ma Ying-jeou Era. In Political Changes in Taiwan Under Ma Ying-jeou: Partisan Conflict, Policy Choices, External Constraints and Security Challenges, ed. Jean-Pierre Cabestan and Jacques de Lisle, 37–59. New York: Routledge.
Gandhi, Jennifer, and Ellen Lust-Okar. 2009. Elections Under Authoritarianism. Annual Review of Political Science 12: 403–422.
Hawang, Shiow-duan. 2016. Executive-Legislative Relations Under Divided Government. In Taiwan’s Democracy Challenged: The Chen Shui-bian Years, ed. Yun-han Chu, Larry Diamond, and Kharis Templeman, 123–144. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Levitsky, Steven, and Lucan Way. 2010. Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Rich, Timothy. 2017. Have Efforts to Reform Taiwan’s Electoral System Stalled? Taiwan Sentinel, January 19. https://sentinel.tw/reform-tw-electoral-stalled/. Accessed 7 Feb 2017.
Rigger, Shelley. 2014. Political Parties and Identity Politics in Taiwan. In New Challenges for Maturing Democracies in Korea and Taiwan, ed. Larry Diamond and Shin Gi-wook, 106–132. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Rustow, Dankwart A. 1970. Transitions to Democracy: Toward a Dynamic Model. Comparative Politics 2 (3, April): 337–363.
Schmitter, Philippe C., and Terry Lynn Karl. 1991. What Democracy Is…and Is Not. Journal of Democracy 2 (1, Summer): 75–88.
Yu, Eric Chen-hua. 2016. Partisanship and Public Opinion. In Taiwan’s Democracy Challenged: The Chen Shui-bian Years, ed. Yun-han Chu, Larry Diamond, and Kharis Templeman, 73–94. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
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Dickson, B.J. (2019). The Quality of Democracy in Taiwan. In: Lee, Wc. (eds) Taiwan’s Political Re-Alignment and Diplomatic Challenges. Politics and Development of Contemporary China. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77125-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77125-0_2
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