The Formation of Taiwan''s Plebiscite System：A Perspective of Historical Institutionalism

• Main Authors: Sheng-Lai Chiang, 江盛來
• Other Authors: Tsui-Lien Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2006
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/75786313815170527577

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 公共行政學系公共政策碩士班 === 94 === Plebiscite contains a concept of civil rights. It is a form of direct democracy that realizes “sovereignty belonging to the people”, which compensates the deficiency of the Representative Politics, as well as promotes the citizens’ participation in politics. However, the issue of referendum, owing to the huge political factors embedded inside Taiwan, has long comprised historical meaning and political ideas. This paper, therefore, adopts the perspective of “Historical Institutionalism” as the basis of theoretical analysis, which reviews the impact made by previous historical discussions on plebiscite institution. The paper then stretches to the change of the process of the legalization of plebiscite. The main idea of the study will begin with the origin of the concept and assertion of plebiscite, the state of implementation, and the process of legalization. There are six chapters in this thesis, aside from introduction, which are briefly listed as the following. Chapter II looks into theories of plebiscite and democracy. Under the operation of modern representative democracy, a variety of drawbacks and problems have occurred, which stimulate the rise of the institution of plebiscite. Furthermore, this chapter discusses the relationship between plebiscite and the basis of the theory of direct democracy. Chapter III describes the history and experiences of plebiscite in Taiwan. This part can be traced back to 1947, when Wen-Yi Liao (廖文毅) stated about the problems of Taiwan’s position. Sequentially we will look into the referendum and the position of Taiwan in the decade between 1970 and 1980. The cases of Taiwan’s plebiscite in 1990s, according to historical development, are political issues including the anti-No.5 Naphtha movement in Hou-chin, the Stop-Construction-of- Nuclear-Plant-No.4 movement in Koong-liao, and the anti-Bayer movement in Taichung. Through these cases we can analyze the origin of the institution of plebiscite in Taiwan and depict the historical course and revolutionary stages of Taiwan’s plebiscite, from which we can examine the political implication of the legalization of plebiscite in Taiwan. Chapter VI surveys the process of legalization of plebiscite at the first stage (1993-1995). This part examines the legal meaning and political consideration in proposing the draft of plebiscite laws at the beginning. With the core concept of Historical Institutionalism in mind, we will look into the result of the legalization of plebiscite at the first stage thorough the arrangement of the committee’s process in examination, focus of arguments between political parties, and factors such as social changes. Chapter V investigates the process of legalization of plebiscite at the second stage (2002-2003). This is also about the completion of legalization of plebiscite in Taiwan, when the Legislative Yuan three reads through it. This chapter, focusing on this stage, will discuss the process of the changes of institutions, and analyze the context of both interior and exterior environments, as well as the impacts of individual important accidental occurrences. At the conclusion, we uncover, from the perspective of Historical Institutionalism, that the development of the plebiscite ideas in Taiwan are deeply influenced by conditioned historical thoughts, which are regulated by norms of a constitutional government. We underwent a change in the political environment that is in favor of the formation of the legalization of plebiscite, while the critical turning point was an unanticipated, accidental factor – a strategic consideration of the presidential election in 2004.