Kharis Templeman
中文姓名:祁凱立
  • Home
  • CV
  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Blog
  • Taiwan Studies Resources
  • Taiwan Democracy Project

CDDRL Talk on Taiwan's 2016 Presidential and Legislative Elections

2/1/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Apologies for the lack of posts after the election--I'm still catching up with my day job after an exciting and fruitful trip to Taiwan. If you're jonesing for some election reactions, plenty of other people have already weighed in on what happened and what the results mean. (Here's one long list.) We'll no doubt be analyzing and talking about the results of these elections for the next several years, but I'll try to write some reflections on the actual results over the next few weeks, in addition to some thoughts on developments in the Legislative Yuan and appointments to President-elect Tsai's incoming government.

In the interim, here are a couple links. I had the opportunity to give some initial thoughts at an event in Taipei the day after the elections; here is the video from that roundtable, sponsored by Ketagalan Media.

We also held an event at Stanford last Tuesday at which Larry Diamond and I had a bit more time to reflect on the elections, the health of Taiwan's democracy, and what's likely to come next; slides and video from that seminar can be found at the CDDRL ​event page. 

I'll repeat my main take-away from both those events: this was a (mostly) encouraging demonstration of  Taiwan's democratic process, whatever your ideological or partisan predilections might be.

President-elect Tsai Ing-wen will have a large DPP majority in the legislature, and the prospects for reform of aspects of the legislative process are that much better for it. The impressive victories of the New Power Party in its district races are also an encouraging sign: the NPP grew out of the student-led protests of 2014, and their success indicates that much of that opposition to the Ma administration has been channeled into the electoral and now the legislative process rather than remaining in the streets. And, this bears repeating, Taiwan's elections management remains a model of efficiency, accuracy, and probity--I never fail to be impressed at how smoothly the voting, counting, and reporting of the results takes place. I wish elections in the United States were even half as well run.    

On the less positive side, turnout was way down--66.2%, below even the 2014 local elections. And there's that pesky matter of a nearly four-month gap between the seating of the new legislature on February 1 and the inauguration of the new president on May 20, which is creating a real constitutional challenge. That badly needs to be fixed in this next term, perhaps by Tsai offering to shorten her own term as a one-off concession in a larger package of reforms. 

Finally, now that the new Legislative Yuan has been formally sworn in, it's important to note that Tsai has just secured the election of a new DPP speaker, Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), who's a close personal ally--an outcome that required the incumbent DPP caucus leader, Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘), to relinquish his claim on the position. In that vote, no DPP members defected from the party, and the NPP caucus also voted in Su's favor. That's an auspicious start to what is going to be a fascinating period in legislative politics in Taiwan.   

0 Comments

    About Me

    I am a political scientist by training, with interests in democratization, parties and elections, and the politics of new and developing democracies.  My regional expertise is in East Asia, with special focus on Taiwan.

    Archives

    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    1992 Elections
    2008 Elections
    2012 Elections
    2014 Elections
    2016 Elections
    Aacs
    Aborigines
    Alex Tsai
    Annette Lu
    Announcements
    Apsa
    Apsa Cgots
    Arthur P Wolf
    Blog Meta
    Campaign Regulation
    CDDRL
    Chang Ching Chung
    Chang Chun Hsiung
    Chen Chi Mai
    Chen-shui-bian
    Chen-ying
    Chiang Ching Kuo
    Chiang-kai-shek
    Chin Hui Chu
    Chuang Suo Hang
    Citizen 1985
    Conferences
    Control Yuan
    Council-of-grand-justices
    Cross-party-negotiating-committee
    Cross Strait Relations
    CSSTA
    Defense Spending
    Developmental State
    Diplomacy
    DPP Policy Papers
    Eats
    Economic-voting
    Electoral Geography
    Electoral Reform
    Electoral Systems Wonkery
    Eric Chu
    Executive Yuan
    Fellowship
    Freddy Lim
    Germany
    Hau Lung Bin
    Hau Pei Tsun
    Henry Rowen
    Hoover Institution
    Hsieh Sam Chung
    Huang Kuo Chang
    Huang Kuo-chang
    Huang Shih Ming
    Hung Hsiu Chu
    Hung Tzu Yung
    Hung Tzu-yung
    In Memoriam
    Internship
    James Soong
    Jiang Yi Huah
    Job Market
    John Wu
    Kawlo Iyun Pacidal
    Ker Chien Ming
    Kmt History
    Kolas-yotaka
    Ko Wen Je
    Lai Ching-te
    Legal-wonkery
    Legislative Yuan
    Liang-kuo-shu
    Liang Su Jung
    Lien Chan
    Lin Hung Chih
    Liu Kuo Tsai
    Lo Chih Cheng
    Lu Hsiu Yi
    Ma Vs Wang
    Ma Ying Jeou
    Media
    Min Kuo Tang
    Natsa
    New Power Party
    Occupy LY
    Pingpuzu
    Political Economy
    Political Science
    PRC
    Publications
    Public Opinion
    Ramon Myers
    ROC Constitution
    Sean Lien
    Shen Lyu Shun
    South Korea
    Stanford
    Statistics
    Street Protests
    Su Jia-chyuan
    Sunflower Movement
    Taiwanese Economy
    Taiwan Journal Of Democracy
    Taiwan Solidary Union
    Taiwan Studies
    Taiwan World Congress
    This Week In Taiwan
    Ting Shou Chung
    Trade Relations
    Trans Pacific Partnership
    Tsai Ing Wen
    Tseng Yung Chuan
    Tzu Chi
    V-dem
    Wang Chien-hsien
    Wang Jin Pyng
    Wei Yao Kan
    Wellington Koo
    Wild Lily Movement
    Wu Den Yi
    Wu Yung Hsiung
    Xi Jinping
    Yang Shi-chiu
    Yosi Takun
    Yu Shyi Kun

    RSS Feed

Powered by
✕