The Impact of Political Changes on the Roles of Taiwan's Think Tanks

• Main Authors: Kuang-Wei Wu, 吳光蔚
• Other Authors: Ming-Chen shai
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2005
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/17415884310673971641

碩士 === 玄奘大學 === 公共事務管理學系碩士班 === 93 === The Impact of Political Changes on the Roles of Taiwan’s Think Tanks ABSTRACT During the 1980s, think tanks in Taiwan played increasingly important roles in the arena of policy making process although they were all sponsored by Kuomintang (KMT) regime. Since the early 1990s, a series of social movements and collective protests has eroded the legitimacy of authoritarian KMT rule. The force of political reform has contributed to the decline of dominant role of KMT-led think tanks. Nevertheless, the directors of these non-governmental research institutes have personal connections with political elite. All of this indicates that the broader culture and historical context have become the obstacles to the emergence of independent think tanks in Taiwan. In particular, since Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the main opposition party, came to the power in 2000, the role of the KMT-led think tanks has become less important. Instead, think tanks sponsored by DPP began to play the dominant role by offering important indications of policy debates. In this thesis, the author considers the relative impacts of the context of paternalistic authority on the development of Taiwan’s think tanks. Drawing on the theory of think tank, this dissertation examines the current organizations in Taiwan’s think tanks, the evolution of this community, and the relations between policy makers and the members of think tanks. Finally, this thesis concludes with two matrices which locate the roles and function of Taiwan’s think tanks. Key Words: Think Tanks; Paternalistic Authority; Culture and Historical context