Conclusion: Democratic Technology

Abstract

Although socialism, capitalism, Westernization and modernization must have some impact on them, culturally China and Taiwan are still fundamentally Confucian. Traditional personalism, paternalism, authoritarianism, monism and subject culture, although different in degree, are still the basic characteristics of Chinese and Taiwanese cultural systems. Because of the different economic and political paths they have taken in the last four decades, Taiwan’s political culture has become more pluralist and participant, even more rational-legalistic, and hence less personalistic and authoritarian. Nevertheless, it is still only change in degree, not yet in kind.