This paper tries to understand the role of judicial independent reform in the process of the breakdown of the Taiwanese clientelist system. The author argues that the decrease of coercion diminishes the ability of the authoritarian party to control and protect its brokers or local politicians. Democratization decreases the role of coercion in politics. The patrons cannot easily use coercion or...
Advanced Search
Volume #10, Number #1
Volume #10, Number #1
The operation of a political regime or a business entity involves the principal-agent problem. Checks and balances are the theme in the political arena, while management and controlling are the routine in the business world. To ensure that the ministers or the executive officers perform the desired functions, a monitoring scheme may be helpful. The crux of the issue is the lack of trust and...
Volume #10, Number #1
When researchers analyze time series survey data, it is of importance to distinguish random sampling error from volatility of time varying. This study aims at introducing a statistical method of Samplemiser developed by U.S. politics scientists for distinguishing genuine movements in public opinion from random movements produced by sampling error. In this work, we first explain the...
Volume #10, Number #1
Survey research in Taiwan almost always focuses on studying public opinion in the national level. Due to the potential small n problem for less populous sub-geographic units, scholars have not utilized national survey data to estimate public opinions in any local level (e.g., county, town, or village). To overcome this sample size limitation, we use a method combining the multilevel modeling...
Volume #9, Number #2
How does one explore and explain the interactions of Chinese top elites at a crucial juncture, such as the fourth plenum of the 16th CCP Central Committee in September 2004, with limited information? The purpose of this paper is to show the primary sources of information regarding the interactions of Chinese top leaders, and to illustrate the process of deconstructing and reconstructing...
Volume #9, Number #2
The conflict of national identities has surfaced as the most salient issue in Taiwan’s politics since the country became a full-fledged democracy in the late 1980’s. The studies on nationalism in Taiwan have also been mushrooming in the recent years. Many previous studies have found a steady trend of identity change in the past decade among the general populace: the rise of Taiwanese identity...
The Dialogue Between Literature And the Political –The Political Perspectives of Ruan Ji and Ji Kang
Volume #9, Number #2
This article tries to unfold the political perspectives hidden in the works of Ruan Ji and Ji kang who are the important philosophers of the Mysticism School in Wei-Jing epoch. We may find the coral concerns that dwelled in the sphere of literature through reading and analyzing the articles and poetry of these two philosophers.
We shall analyze the academic position of these two...
Volume #9, Number #2
Singapore has developed a new surveillance society strategy to keep authoritarian politics compatible with knowledge economy in the globalization era. The surveillance society control is not only workable in the highly risk society, it also shapes a special development mode that can integrate the authoritarian politics, knowledge economy and surveillance society into an incorporated whole....
Volume #9, Number #2
In the field of International Relations, very few scholars engaged in integrating “security” and “governance” eithe theoretically or empirically. This paper proposes to construct the theoretical concept of “security governance.” Empirically, this paper tends o elucidate the evolution of regional “security governance” in contemporary Southeast Asia. It attempts to discuss the significance of “...
Volume #9, Number #1
The freedom of speech is one of most important human rights. At present days, the freedom of speech is not only accepted universally, but also written into every country constitution. When time goes on, the meaning of the freedom of speech is getting complex and deep. However, as far as communication is concerned, is the freedom of speech the only right that human being could enjoy? The...