Caught between two superpowers: Taiwan's left in an age of US-China tensions

Soundings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (79) ◽  
pp. 24-36
Author(s):  
Brian Chee-Shing Hioe
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
The Past ◽  
Progressive Party

Taiwan's major social movements in the past decade were reacting against the possibility of Taiwan's democratic freedoms being lost to China or its domestic proxies. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), currently led by Tsai Ing-wen, have challenged the Kuomintang for power, but have not been able to move beyond the binary of for or against independence. The Sunflower movement and 'Third Force' parties sought to create a space for left and democratic politics, but this appears to be closing down. The Trumpian figure of Han Kuo-yu has been a major problem for the left. There is no easy way out of these dilemmas in an era characterised by increasing US-China tensions.

Taiwan's State and Social Movements Under the DPP Government, 2000–2004

2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-sho Ho
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Opportunity Structure ◽  
Conservative Policy ◽  
Movement Strategy ◽  
Progressive Party

This article explores the evolution of social movement politics under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government (2000–2004) by using the perspective of political opportunity structure. Recent “contentious politics” in Taiwan is analyzed in terms of four changing dimensions of the opportunity structure. First, the DPP government opens some policy channels, and social movement activists are given chances to work within the institution. Yet other features of the political landscape are less favorable to movement activists. Incumbent elites' political orientation shifts. As the economic recession sets in, there is a conservative policy turn. Political instability incurs widespread countermoblization to limit reform. Last, the Pan-Blue camp, now in opposition, devises its own social movement strategy. Some social movement issues gain political salience as a consequence of the intervention of the opposition parties, but its excessive opportunism also encourages the revolt of antireform forces. As a result of these countervailing factors, social movements have made only limited gains from the recent turnover of power.

Generational Conflicts Plaguing Taiwan's Politics

2015 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
pp. 96-105
Author(s):  
Katherine Hui-Yi TSENG
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Local Election ◽  
Generational Conflicts ◽  
Progressive Party

Taiwan's politics in 2014 had been plagued by generational conflicts in various aspects. Younger electorates and civil forces had stood in line with the opposition force, the Democratic Progressive Party, in social movements and the local election at end-2014. A poor performing domestic government, along with a tepid economy, has attenuated the ruling government's credential in delivering policy outcomes. Cross-strait rapprochement initiated under the Ma administration since 2010 is also under serious challenges.

Malawi’s Mutharika may struggle to be re-elected

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Cholera Outbreak ◽  
Content Type ◽  
People's Party ◽  
The Past ◽  
Northern Regions ◽  
The Government ◽  
Progressive Party

Subject Pressured Malawian president Significance Recurring corruption crises over the past year have seen President Peter Mutharika and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s popularity decline. Despite such travails, the DPP has recently attempted to consolidate its hold on parliament by co-opting members of the opposition People’s Party (PP). This comes soon after rebel PP members controversially supported DPP efforts to defeat an electoral reform bill that would have weakened Mutharika’s 2019 re-election hopes. Impacts The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) will receive intensified overtures from the main parties ahead of the 2019 poll. Despite the recent parliamentary setbacks, a civil society push for electoral reform is unlikely to subside. Failure properly to combat a cholera outbreak in the Central and Northern regions would put further pressure on the government.

scholarly journals Was 2016 a Realigning Election in Taiwan?

Asian Survey ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1006-1028
Author(s):  
Cal Clark ◽  
Alexander C. Tan ◽  
Karl Ho
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Party System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Fundamental Change ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Progressive Party

The January 2016 presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan produced a dramatic and unprecedented victory for the Democratic Progressive Party over its long-time rival, the Kuomintang. The party had never had a parliamentary majority before 2016. The elections indicated the potential for fundamental change in Taiwan’s party system. This is what political scientists call a critical realigning election. The problem with identifying these elections, such as the 1896 and 1932 ones in the United States, is that we can only be sure of such an interpretation after a significant amount of time has passed. Still, some of the changes in Taiwan are fundamental enough to make such an evaluation worthwhile. We summarize realigning elections; discuss the factors that may lead to a change in the partisan balance; and describe the growing role of protest parties and social movements in Taiwan politics.

Misalignment between Social Movements and Political Parties in Taiwan’s 2016 Election

Asian Survey ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 874-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lev Nachman
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Democratic Progressive Party ◽  
Nationalist Party ◽  
2016 Election ◽  
Progressive Party ◽  
Opposition Movement

Why would opposition movement activists not support an established opposition political party? Taiwan’s 2016 presidential election is apropos. This study shows that the Democratic Progressive Party lost support from leftist activists not only because of ideological distance but because they see the party as flawed and ineffective. But activists still voted strategically for Tsai Ing-wen and the DPP to thwart the Nationalist Party from winning the election.

Other People's Struggles

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Owen
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
British History ◽  
Original Theory ◽  
The Past ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Do So

Other People’s Struggles is the first attempt in over forty years to explain the place of “conscience constituents” in social movements. Conscience constituents are people who participate in a movement but do not stand to benefit if it succeeds. Why do such people participate when they do not stand to benefit? Why are they sometimes present and sometimes absent in social movements? Why and when is their participation welcome to those who do stand to benefit, and why and when is it not? The work proposes an original theory to answer these questions, crossing discipline boundaries to draw on the findings of social psychology, philosophy, and normative political theory, in search of explanations of why people act altruistically and what it means to others when they do so. The theory is illustrated by examples from British history, including the antislavery movement, the women’s suffrage and liberation movements, labor and socialist movements, anticolonial movements, antipoverty movements, and movements for global justice. Other People’s Struggles also contributes to new debates concerning the rights and wrongs of “speaking for others.” Debates concerning the limits of solidarity—who can be an “ally” and on what terms—have become very topical in contemporary politics, especially in identity politics and in the new “populist” movements. The book provides a theoretical and empirical account of how these questions have been addressed in the past and how they might be framed today.

Searching for Political Parties in the Past

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piero Ignazi
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Democratic Politics ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Common

Chapter 1 introduces the long and difficult process of the theoretical legitimation of the political party as such. The analysis of the meaning and acceptance of ‘parties’ as tools of expressing contrasting visions moves forward from ancient Greece and Rome where (democratic) politics had first become a matter of speculation and practice, and ends up with the first cautious acceptance of parties by eighteenth-century British thinkers. The chapter explores how parties or factions have been constantly considered tools of division of the ‘common wealth’ and the ‘good society’. The holist and monist vision of a harmonious and compounded society, stigmatized parties and factions as an ultimate danger for the political community. Only when a new way of thinking, that is liberalism, emerged, was room for the acceptance of parties set.

Prohibition, Legalization, and Political Consumerism

2018 ◽  
pp. 740-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth A. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Drug Control ◽  
Psychoactive Substance ◽  
Political Consumerism ◽  
Control Laws ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Us

Cannabis (marijuana) is the most commonly consumed, universally produced, and frequently trafficked psychoactive substance prohibited under international drug control laws. Yet, several countries have recently moved toward legalization. In these places, the legal status of cannabis is complex, especially because illegal markets persist. This chapter explores the ways in which a sector’s legal status interacts with political consumerism. The analysis draws on a case study of political consumerism in the US and Canadian cannabis markets over the past two decades as both countries moved toward legalization. It finds that the goals, tactics, and leadership of political consumerism activities changed as the sector’s legal status shifted. Thus prohibition, semilegalization, and new legality may present special challenges to political consumerism, such as silencing producers, confusing consumers, deterring social movements, and discouraging discourse about ethical issues. The chapter concludes that political consumerism and legal status may have deep import for one another.

scholarly journals Our New Cathedrals: Spirituality and Old-Growth Forests in Western Australia

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Worth
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
The State ◽  
The South ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
The Past ◽  
South West ◽  
Old Growth Forests ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
Policy Proposals

Over the past 30 years in Western Australia (WA), there has been heated debate about the future use of the remaining karri and jarrah forests in the south-west of the State. This debate revolves around policy proposals from two social movements: one wants to preserve as much of the remaining old-growth forests as possible, and an opposing movement supports a continued

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