Political Polarization and Gridlock as the Result of an Institutional Imbroglio in Taiwan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2011.-15.2.77-99Keywords:
Taiwan, institutions, democratization, polarization, identityAbstract
Institutionalist theory argues that fairly permanent economic structures and policy-making arrangements create “institutions” which shape future policy-making and economic performance to a considerable extent (March and Olsen 1989; North 1990; Riker 1982). This perspective suggests that it might be valuable to look for the political institutions that evolved during Taiwan’s development which could have inhibited the country’s adaptability after the mid-1990s. From this perspective, Taiwan’s current institutional imbroglio results from a combination of a complex and somewhat indeterminate constitutional system, a long-time election system that contained some perverse incentives, and its long era of authoritarian rule. This paper, hence, seeks to provide an “institutionalist” explanation for the polarization and gridlock in Taiwan’s politics in the early 21st century.Downloads
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References
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Tu,Wei-Ming. 1998. “Cultural Identity and the Politics of Recognition in Contemporary Taiwan.” In Contemporary Taiwan, edited by David Shambaugh, 71–96. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
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Wu, Jaushieh J. 1995. Taiwan’s Democratization: Forces Behind the New Momentum. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
Wu, Yu-Shan. 2011. “Strategic Triangle, Change of Guard, and Ma’s New Course.” In The Changing Dynamics of Relations Among China, Taiwan, and the United States, edited by Cal Clark, 30–61. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Yeh, Jiunn-Rong. 2002. “Constitutional Reform and Democratization in Taiwan, 1945–2000.” In Taiwan’s Modernization in Global Perspective, edited by Peter C.Y. Chow, 47–77. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Bedeski, Robert E. 1981. State-Building in Modern China: The Kuomintang in the Prewar Period. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California.
Bosco, Joseph. 1994. “Taiwan Factions: Guanxi, Patronage, and the State in Local Politics.” In The Other Taiwan, 1945 to the Present, edited by M.A. Rubinstein, 114–144. Armonk, NY: M.E.
Cabestan, Jean-Pierre. 1998. “Taiwan’s Mainland Policy: Normalization, Yes; Reunification, Later.” In Contemporary Taiwan, edited by David Shambaugh, 216–239. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Chao, Chien-Min. 2002. “The Republic of China’s Foreign Relations under Lee Teng-hui: A Balance Sheet.” In Assessing Lee Teng-hui’s Legacy in Taiwan’s Politics: Democratic Consolidation and External Relations, edited by Bruce.J. Dickson and Chien-Min Chao, 177–203. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Chao, Linda and Ramon H. Myers. 1998. The First Chinese Democracy: Political Life in the Republic of China. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Cheng, Robert L. 1994. “Language Unification in Taiwan: Present and Future.” In The Other Taiwan, 1945 to the Present, edited by Murray A. Rubinstein, 357–391. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Ch’ien, Tuan-Sheng. 1950. The Government and Politics of China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Chou, Bi-Ehr, Cal Clark, and Janet Clark. 1990. Women in Taiwan Politics: Overcoming Barriers to Women’s Participation in a Modernizing Society. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
Clark, Cal. 1989. Taiwan’s Development: Implications for Contending Political Economy Paradigms. Westport, CT.: Greenwood.
Clark, Cal. 2002. “Democratization and the Evolving Nature of Parties, Issues, and Constituencies in the ROC.” In Taiwan’s Modernization in Global Perspective, edited by Peter C.Y. Chow, 135–159. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Clark, Cal. 2006. “Taiwan Enters Troubled Waters: The Elective Presidencies of Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian.” In Taiwan: A New History, edited by Murray Rubinstein, 496–535. Revised Ed. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Clough, Ralph N. 1978. Island China. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Copper, John F. 1979. “Political Development in Taiwan.” In China and the Taiwan Issue, edited by H.D. Chiu, 37–76. New York: Praeger.
Copper, John F. 2009. Taiwan: Nation-State or Province? 5th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Fell, Dafydd. 2005. Party Politics in Taiwan: Party Change and the Democratic Evolution of Taiwan, 1991–2004. London: Routledge.
Gold, Thomas B. 1986. State and Society in the Taiwan Miracle. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Gold, Thomas B. 2009. “Taiwan in 2008: My Kingdom for a Horse.” Asian Survey 49(1): 88–97.
Gurtov, Mel. 1968. “Taiwan: Looking to the Mainland.” Asian Survey 8: 16–20.
Hickey, Dennis V. 2006. “Complicating the Complicated: The Role of Societal Actors in Taiwan’s External Relations.” Columbia, SC: Paper presented at the Conference on Taiwan Issues, University of South Carolina.
Hood, Steven J. 1997. The Kuomintang and the Democratization of Taiwan. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Hsiau, A-Chin. 2005. “Bentuhua: An Endeavor for Normalizing a Would-be Nation-State?” In Cultural, Ethnic, and Political Nationalism in Contemporary Taiwan Bentuhua, edited by John Makeham and A-Chin. Hsiau, 261–276. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hsieh, John F.S. 2006. “Institutional Design for a Mildly Divided Society.” Issues & Studies 42(1): 81–102.
Hsieh, John F.S. 2009. “The Origins and Consequences of Electoral Reform in Taiwan.” Issues & Studies 45(2): 1–22.
Jacobs, J. Bruce. 2005. “‘Taiwanization’ in Taiwan Politics.” In Cultural, Ethnic, and Political Nationalism in Contemporary Taiwan: Bentuhua, edited by John Makeham and A-Chin Hsiau, 17–54. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lasater, Martin L. 2000. The Taiwan Conundrum in U.S. China Policy. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Lee, Wei-Chin. 2005. “Taiwan’s Cultural Reconstruction Movement: Identity Politics and Collective Action since 2000.” Issues & Studies 41(1): 1–51.
Lerman, Arthur J. 1978. Taiwan’s Politics: The Provincial Assemblyman’s World. Washington, DC: University Press of America.
Lin, Jih-Wen. 2002. “Transition through Transaction: Taiwan’s Constitutional Reforms in the Lee Teng-hui Era.” American Asian Review 20: 123–155.
Lynch, Daniel C. 2004. “Taiwan’s Self-Conscious Nation-Building Project.” Asian Survey 44: 513–533.
Makeham, John, and Hsiau, A-Chin, eds. 2005. Cultural, Ethnic, and Political Nationalism in Contemporary Taiwan: Bentuhua. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
March, James G., and Olsen, Johan. 1989. Rediscovering Institutions: The Organizational Basis of Politics. New York: Free Press.
Mattlin, Mikael. 2004. “Referendum as a Form of Zaoshi: The Instrumental Domestic Political Functions of Taiwan’s Referendum Ploy.” Issues & Studies 40(2): 155–185.
Mendel, Douglas. 1970. The Politics of Formosan Nationalism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
North, Douglass C. 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Phillips, Steve E. 2003. Between Assimilation and Independence: The Taiwanese Encounter Nationalist Chinese Rule, 1945–1950. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Rigger, Shelley. 1999. Politics in Taiwan: Voting for Democracy. London: Routledge.
Rigger, Shelley. 2001. From Opposition to Power: Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
Rigger, Shelley. 2004. “Taiwan in 2003: Plenty of Clouds, Few Silver Linings.” Asian Survey 44: 182–187.
Rigger, Shelley. 2005. “The Unfinished Business of Taiwan’s Democratization.” In Dangerous Strait: The U.S.-China-Taiwan Crisis, edited by Nancy B. Tucker, 16–42. New York: Columbia University Press.
Rigger, Shelley. 2007. “The Politics of Constitutional Reform in Taiwan.” Atlanta: Paper presented at the Conference on Taiwan’s Democracy and Future: Economic and Political Challenges, Georgia State University.
Sutter, Robert G., and Johnson, William R., eds. 1994. Taiwan in World Affairs. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Riker, William H. 1982. Liberalism Against Populism: A Confrontation between the Theory of Democracy and the Theory of Social Choice. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman.
Tai, Hung-Chao. 1970. “The Kuomintang and Modernization in Taiwan.” In Authoritarian Politics in Modern Society: The Dynamics of Established One-Party Systems, edited by Samuel P. Huntington and Clement H. Moore, 406–436. New York: Basic Books.
Tan, Alexander C. 2001. “Taiwan: Sustained State Autonomy and a Step Back From Liberalization.” In The Political Economy of International Financial Crises: Interest Groups, Ideologies, and Institutions, edited by Shale Horowitz and Uk Heo, 165–176. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Tan, Alexander C. 2008. “From State Entrepreneurs to Political Entrepreneurs: Democratization and the Politics of Financial Liberalization in Taiwan.” In Democratization in Taiwan: Challenges in Transformation, edited by Philip Paolino and James Meernik, 153–166. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Tien, Hung-Mao. 1989. The Great Transition: Political and Social Change in the Republic of China. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press.
Tien, Hung-Mao, ed. 1996. Taiwan’s Electoral Politics and Democratic Transition: Riding the Third Wave. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Tu,Wei-Ming. 1998. “Cultural Identity and the Politics of Recognition in Contemporary Taiwan.” In Contemporary Taiwan, edited by David Shambaugh, 71–96. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Wachman, Alan M. 1994. Taiwan: National Identity and Democratization. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Wang, Fu-Chang. 2005. “Why Bother About School Textbooks?: An Analysis of the Origin of the Disputes over Renshi Taiwan Textbooks in 1997.” In Cultural, Ethnic, and Political Nationalism in Contemporary Taiwan: Bentuhua, edited by John Makeham and A-Chin Hsiau, 55–99. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wang, Teh-Yu. 2000. “One China, One Taiwan: An Analysis of the Democratic Progressive Party’s China Policy.” In Taiwan in Perspective, edited by Wei-Chin Lee, 159–182. Leiden: Brill.
Winckler, Edwin A. 1984. “Institutionalization and Participation on Taiwan: From Hard to Soft Authoritarianism?” China Quarterly 99: 481–499.
Wu, Jaushieh J. 1995. Taiwan’s Democratization: Forces Behind the New Momentum. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
Wu, Yu-Shan. 2011. “Strategic Triangle, Change of Guard, and Ma’s New Course.” In The Changing Dynamics of Relations Among China, Taiwan, and the United States, edited by Cal Clark, 30–61. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Yeh, Jiunn-Rong. 2002. “Constitutional Reform and Democratization in Taiwan, 1945–2000.” In Taiwan’s Modernization in Global Perspective, edited by Peter C.Y. Chow, 47–77. Westport, CT: Praeger.
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1. 12. 2011
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How to Cite
Clark, Cal, and Alexander C. Tan. 2011. “Political Polarization and Gridlock As the Result of an Institutional Imbroglio in Taiwan”. Asian Studies -15 (2): 77-99. https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2011.-15.2.77-99.
