Taiwan's faltering democracy

The stakes for renewing good governance in Taiwan are high.

By Julian Baum

from the July 2, 2007 edition

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Taipei, TAIWAN - Democracy has fallen on hard times in Taiwan, and it's been a long while since its citizens felt good about their government. With candidates beginning to campaign for elections next January, this is the time to ask what, if anything, can be done about it.

Taiwan's democratic path sets it apart from its rival government on the Chinese mainland, which has strongly resisted Western-style political reforms. The island republic's peaceful transition to democratic rule more than a decade ago has helped to legitimize its status as a sovereign state. That's one reason Beijing so strongly opposed the first popular presidential election in 1996. Under pressure from China's hostile unification campaign, any democratic backtracking could jeopardize the legitimacy of Taiwan's government – and even dim the prospects for political changes coming out of Beijing.

Hopes for political and constitutional reform were high in 2000 when the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), led by President Chen Shui-bian, ended the abusive, 55-year rule of the Chinese Nationalist Party. But those hopes have been dashed amid seven years of divided, deadlocked government. Budgets are often delayed or canceled. Almost no bills have passed. Rules are twisted for partisan advantage. Corruption in high places is rampant. The result is a serious crisis of governance that has depressed popular support for representative government and deepened cynicism. Opinion surveys by East Asia Barometer show that the Taiwanese have the lowest level of belief in the superiority of democracy in East Asia and unusually high nostalgia for the efficiency of authoritarian rule.

Today, the voices of reform are almost silent. Both major political parties appear mired in the special interests that disparage openness and accountability and bend the rules of fairness and due process.

Among the most distressing trends is the hardening conflict over national identity. Taiwan's main political camps – those who advocate a separate Taiwanese identity and those who seek eventual alignment with China – worry that the failures of government play into the hands of their rivals. They have mobilized hundreds of thousands of people in emotional rallies and protest marches to promote their views, an unprecedented scale of activism.

Meanwhile, factionalism and lack of commitment to public service have greatly weakened Mr. Chen's administration. The high turnover of cabinet ministers has made continuity in office only a happy memory of the Nationalists' dictatorship.

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