Studies on Taiwan’s Democracy and Democratisation

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Rigger
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
Political Bias ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Democratic Performance ◽  
Constitutional Changes

Throughout its long democratic transition and two decades of democratic functioning, Taiwan’s political development has attracted attention from many political scientists. This review of recent scholarship finds that while some works suffer from political bias, there is no shortage of high-quality academic work on this topic. Well-crafted assessments of Taiwan’s democratic performance vary in their conclusions, but critical assessments outnumber laudatory ones. Topics that have attracted especially strong attention from scholars include Taiwan’s constitutional development (with the verdict that the island is ill-served by a pattern of politically motivated constitutional changes) and electoral reform (which is judged to have strengthened the two-party system). Finally, the paper identifies and categorises works that compare Taiwan to other new democracies and summarises work on how Taiwan’s democracy is perceived by the island’s public.

scholarly journals Republika Turska u svjetlu rezultata referenduma od 16. 04. 2017. – Povratak u prošlost stopama “izabranog sultana’’

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 947-979
Author(s):  
Vedran Zlatić
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Republic Of Turkey ◽  
Political Scene ◽  
Constitutional Changes

The Constitutional referendum held 16.04. 2017. has brought many changes in the constitutional regulation of the Republic of Turkey. Elected constitutional changes have brought the danger that this country moves from the path of constitutional democracy to the autocratic rule of one person. However, to better understand this kind of change on the Turkish political scene, it will be necessary to take into consideration of the historical inheritance which to a large extent provides the decisive impulse to the current political regulation of the country. It is precisely because of this that this paper also focusses on the historical development of the constitutionality of this country together with emphasising all the factors which have played and are still playing a large role. Only with such consideration of the whole picture can an assessment of the situation today and certain assumptions about the future political development of relations in this country be made. Therefore, in the first part of this paper the development of the constitutionality of the Republic of Turkey is shown and after that there follows an assessment of the current situation, in particular, possible future developments according to the recently adopted constitutional changes. Above all, both the role of the most significant politicians is taken into account as well as the role of the extra political factors which have shaped and directed constitutional development of this country.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ekrem Karakoç
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Median Voter ◽  
System Stability ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Electoral Volatility ◽  
Large N ◽  
Multimethod Approach ◽  
Median Voter Theory ◽  
Nondemocratic Regimes

This chapter opens by providing empirical evidence that income inequality persists or increases in many new democracies after their transition. Then it gives a brief overview of studies that expect reduced inequality because of democratization and questions their three assumptions regarding median voters, party system stability, and the authoritarian legacy on citizen–party linkage. It offers a revision to the median voter theory, emphasizes high electoral volatility in new democracies, and reexamines the legacy of previous nondemocratic regimes on citizen–party linkage. Having offered its argument in a nutshell, it turns to research methodology and case selection. It offers the rationale behind employing a multimethod approach to test its arguments. It tests its argument through large-N analysis in new and longstanding democracies in Europe as well as two paired case studies: Poland and the Czech Republic in postcommunist Europe and Turkey and Spain in Southern Europe.

Presidentialism and the Effect of Electoral Law in Postcommunist Systems

2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry D. Clark ◽  
Jill N. Wittrock
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Representation Systems ◽  
Legislative Agenda ◽  
Majority Control ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Duverger's Law ◽  
Electoral Law ◽  
Mixed Systems

Efforts to test Duverger’s law in the new democracies of postcommunist Europe have had mixed results. Research argues that mixed systems have an effect on the number of effective parties that is distinct from that of single-mandate district and proportional representation systems. Less attention has been given to the effect of other institutions on the party system, particularly strong presidents. Analyzing election results in postcommunist Europe, the authors find support for Duverger’s law after controlling for the strength of the executive. They argue that strong presidents substantially reduce the incentive for parties to seize control of the legislative agenda. Hence, the restraint that electoral systems exercise on the proliferation of parties and independent candidates is weakened. The authors find that a further consequence of strong presidents is that the incentive for majority control of committees and the legislative agenda is weakened.

Wahlsystemreform in Deutschland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peggy Matauschek
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Parallel Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Suitable Alternative ◽  
Representation Systems ◽  
District Magnitude ◽  
Alternative Vote

Is plurality or majority electoral reform a sensible option in Germany’s muddled electoral system debate? Yes, it is. Since Germany’s mixed-member proportional system fails to concentrate the party system in a sufficient way, Peggy Matauschek searches for a suitable alternative to the principle of proportional representation. She discusses the following options according to their contextual conditions: single-member plurality and majority electoral systems—like the alternative vote system—, parallel systems, proportional representation systems with a low district magnitude and majority bonus systems. In light of its balanced performance, the study advocates the introduction of a system with a majority bonus for a coalition.

scholarly journals NEW DIRECTIONS OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES (DYNAMICS OF THE LAST FIVE YEARS)

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Татьяна Масловская ◽  
Tatyana Maslovskaya
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Careful Attention ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
The Past ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Constitutional Changes

The article analyzes the conditions of the constitutional reforms in foreign countries, the goal of constitutional changes at the present stage. Attention is paid to popularity of practice of adopting of interim constitutions. We study the full and partial constitutional reforms passed in foreign countries over the past five years. Provide new directions of constitutional reforms, based on modern challenges. Careful attention is paid to analysis of constitutional reforms as a response to the crisis: a crisis of values in society and the state, the security crisis. Subject to review are new constitutions of the XXI century, as well as draft constitutional laws. Provided the tendency of strengthening the state’s position in order to protect national interests. The author attempts to envisage further constitutional development in foreign countries.

“To Change the Fundamental Law of the State”: Protective Labor Provisions in U.S. Constitutions

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Zackin
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Union Organizing ◽  
Worker Rights ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
State Constitutions ◽  
Labor Activism ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Labor Legislation

As the United States industrialized, its state constitutions began to include protections for laborers. In this article, I describe the origins of these constitutional provisions and ask why labor organizations and other reformers pursued their inclusion in state constitutions. I argue that they saw state constitutions as a vehicle to prompt reluctant legislatures to pass protective statutes, to entrench existing protections against future legislatures, to safeguard labor legislation from constitutional challenges in state courts, and to facilitate further union organizing. Labor activism in this arena is particularly interesting in light of the literature on constitutional change, which contends that constitutional development is a tool through which actors attempt to usher courts into political conflicts; in contrast, I will argue that unions turned to constitutional change in large part to exclude courts from policymaking. Further, the union activism on behalf of constitutional change serves as a challenge to the prominent view among many scholars of American political development and law that judicial hostility to worker rights and union organizing discouraged unions from demanding state protection or institutionalizing their demands through law.

Constitutional Changes in Bangladesh: Process of Political Development

1986 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 391-404
Author(s):  
Shyamali Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
State Power ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Order ◽  
Parliamentary Democracy ◽  
Constitutional Changes ◽  
Constitution Making

The Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh initially adopted a constitution in 1972 that sought to direct the state power to develop ways and means for the society's transition to a socialistic economic order through a secular parliamentary democracy.1 Today, through constitutional changes, Bangladesh is neither a parliamentary democracy, nor does it follow a path to a socialistic economy. Secularism also is no longer a constitutional dictum.2 These clearly indicate changes in the fundamentals of the Constitution (1972), and such changes, wheneuer they occur, require probing in terms of the basis, the process and method of constitution making, constitution-amending and the legitimacy of these processes. The following analysis attempts to explore the Bangladesh case.3

15. Institutional Design in New Democracies

2018 ◽  
pp. 228-238
Author(s):  
Matthijs Bogaards
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Ethnic Conflicts ◽  
Consociational Democracy ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Established Democracies ◽  
Electoral Law

This chapter focuses on electoral systems and institutional design in new democracies. It first compares Maurice Duverger’s electoral laws with those of Giovanni Sartori before discussing the main insights from the literature on electoral systems in established democracies as well as evidence from new democracies. It then considers the impact of the electoral law on the type of party system and its role as intermediary between society and government in plural societies. It also examines the party system as an independent variable, along with dependent variables such as the number of political parties, social cleavages, and presidentialism. Finally, it discusses consociational democracy and how electoral system design can be used in managing ethnic conflicts.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 249-258
Author(s):  
Emily J. Charnock
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Party Change ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Ideological Dimension ◽  
Over Time

This conclusion highlights the importance of PACs in twentieth-century American political development. The emergence of partisan PACs, initially formed by major interest groups, played an important and neglected role in fostering the polarization of American politics—a phenomenon that has raised concern in recent decades. Seeking to reconfigure party politics around specific policy issues—more broadly, to realign the party system along an ideological dimension of conflict—these PACs helped make the parties more distinct and more deeply divided over time. They did so via electoral tools and tactics that are now ubiquitous in political life but are rarely probed in scholarship. A focus on PACs thus illuminates the very mechanisms through which party change was brought about, as much as its wider meaning. The book concludes with a consideration of contemporary US politics, in which PACs continue to play a prominent role.

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