Facing labor shortages and looming economic challenges, East Asian countries decided to open their labor markets and recruit low-skilled foreign workers. For example, Taiwan adopted a guest-worker program in 1992 that heavily involved private recruitment agencies as labor mediators, whereas Korea launched a temporary labor migration program in 2003 through government-to-government agreements....
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Volume #24, Number #2
Volume #24, Number #2
The independence of post-communist countries following the dissolution of the Soviet Union is a crucial topic in academic research on contemporary international relations. The foreign policies and political development of these countries reveal various facets of their transitions. This paper focuses on the relationship between the regime transfer following the break up of the Union and the...
Volume #24, Number #2
Local elected officials are expected to advise or mandate their citizens to take protective action when their communities face imminent risk. These decisions are challenging, as they must be made with imperfect information. This study identifies the factors that influence Taiwan’s local elected officials’ decisions to suspend public and school operations in response to impending typhoon risk....
Volume #24, Number #2
Based on the perspectives of Communitarianism, this research examines Cambodian civil society through document analysis, in-depth interviews and field observations conducted in two rural villages in Cambodia. By comparing the two villages, this research explores factors hindering collective actions for common good in the situation that the environmental crisis threatens villagers’ subsistence...
Volume #24, Number #2
Around the world, the repatriation of indigenous remains has long been a contentious issue. Taiwan is no exception. This article examines the Mayuan repatriation case through an institutional lens. It argues that the so-called “repatriation” is much more complex than the physical return of human remains and cultural objects. The process of repatriation is in fact a redefinition of ownership/...
Volume #24, Number #1
Taiwan’s legislative scholars rarely investigate congressional speech. Congressional speech is legally defined as legislative behavior, just as much as roll call vote. I attempt to look into congressional speech and investigate three targets of it- party, constituency, and information. Previous literature that deals with congressional speech targets start from one major question: does the...
Volume #24, Number #1
As in Taiwan today, direct democratic institutions were also present during the Weimar Republic and enshrined in the Constitution. Similar to the founders of Taiwan’s constitution, the founders of the Weimar Constitution brought direct democratic elements into the Weimar Constitution mainly because they lacked confidence in the parliament and thought direct democratic elements could complement...
Volume #24, Number #1
From the perspective of political inclusiveness and accountability, how to ensure the adequate participation of women in public affairs and include their interests in the legislative process are important issues in contemporary democracies. Many countries have also tried to increase female representation in politics via various institutional arrangements. Under the global trend toward gender...
Volume #24, Number #1
The idea of crowdfunding has rapidly gained momentum around the world, as ordinary people have been looking for solutions to compensate for the diminishing interest rates on their investments in bonds and bank savings deposits as a result of the financial crisis in 2008-2009. The authorities have long remained inactive, but due to the rapid growth in popularity of crowdfunding, they have slowly...
Volume #24, Number #1
This research aims to investigate whether disaster response systems have the foundations needed to self-organize and overcome the uncertainties present in post-disaster environments. Drawing upon contributions from the resilience, network governance, and complex adaptive systems literature, this article presents the findings of an investigation into the disaster response system that operated...