The Influence of Promoting to Special Municipal City on the Campaign Strategy and Electoral Mobilization: A Case Study of New Taipei City

• Main Authors: Zhen-Bang Wu, 吳振榜
• Other Authors: 蕭怡靖
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/r34372

碩士 === 淡江大學 === 公共行政學系公共政策碩士在職專班 === 106 === "Campaign strategy" and "electoral mobilization" are interlinked, requiring strategy setup and mobilization execution towards the strategic direction. After Taipei County was promoted to a special municipal city, township/city dissolution, appointment power, and financial resources became the rights of the city mayor. Following the promotion, local campaign strategies and electoral mobilization are bound to undergo a certain degree of change. In view of this, the research problem states “After the promotion of New Taipei City to a special municipal city, what changes and differences have there been compared to the past in terms of “campaign strategy” setup and method of “electoral mobilization?” Through the theories in literature review, this study deems that following the promotion of Taipei County to a special municipal city, the cancellation of township/city elections and change to "appointment of district heads by the city mayor", the mayor’s appointment power has not only extended, but communication costs have more effectively reduced and the efficiency of construction promotions has improved. On the other hand, following the special municipal city promotion, the city mayor’s access of financial resources has substantially increased, while local factions and vote brokers bound by their practical considerations of self-interest have had no choice but to consult with the mayor. The initially perplexing local factions gradually formed the so-called "pro-mayor clan". In the urban city center environment where media resources are concentrated, special municipal city mayors have far more publicity than non-special municipal city mayors, which also affects campaign strategy setup. Based on the theoretical viewpoints mentioned above, this study adopted the in-depth interview method to carry out research. Targeting "city finance and administrative efficiency before and after the promotion" and "campaign strategy and electoral mobilization before and after the promotion", an in-depth analysis was carried out. The research findings show that following the promotion of Taipei County into New Taipei City, the "media exposure and election marketing channels", "public finance- revenue and candidates’ political agendas", and "appointment power and executive power and electoral mobilization" showed considerable differences. In terms of “media exposure and election marketing channels", other than New Taipei City’s increased media exposure, prior to the promotion, the respective townships and cities’ policies only had impacts on the population in the townships/cities. After the promotion, the policies promoted by the special municipal cities affected all the residents in the cities. This change also led to the media’s increased incentive to report; in terms of “public finance-revenue and candidates’ political agenda”, after the promotion, not only have centrally allotted tax revenues doubled, debt financing has also become higher than non-special municipal cities, which have enabled candidates to release more preferential welfare policies and larger-scale infrastructure plans; in terms of "appointment power and executive power and electoral mobilization", after the promotion, the cancellation of township/city elections and change to district heads appointed by the city mayor has also enabled the "mayor" or "mayor-reelect" candidates to more effectively exercise their appointment power, extend their administrative rights, and carry out a certain degree of electoral mobilization.