There are not only different modes of political participation, but they are sharply visible—especially, in ROC elections. Next month's elections for national legislators have been heralded, for some time now, with notable candidate fervor and popular campaign excitement.
Before Taiwan's return to China in 1945, the Chinese people on the island were barred by the ruling Japanese from any form of political participation, and they were indifferent to politics. The political culture was "subject" in nature, in the words of political scientist Gabriel Almond.
But from the early 1950s, local elections were regularly held. And from 1969, the scope of the election process was widened to include national legislators. The popular quorum was effectively enlarged.
Through such frequent elections, large numbers of indigenous politicians have been able to accumulate democratic political experience. As a result, they have made themselves increasingly fell in the central decision-making process. The momentum of change in the future depends, to a great degree, on their proficiency. The elections have also had tremendous impact on the general public; people here have not only become more aware of politics, but more willing than ever to take part in the political process.
It is more than fair to note that the nature of the political culture in the Republic of China has been transformed into a "participatory" one.
Empirical studies of each election reveal that candidates have multiplied over the decades; uncontested races have become a rarity. For example, in the November 1985 elections, 54 candidates competed for 21 mayoral and magistrate positions, and 158 more campaigned for 77 seats in the Taiwan Provincial Assembly. Most of the candidates for local bodies used to be members of leading families, or the local 'gentry' themselves; today they are, increasingly, from business and the professions.
The voters have changed, too. The people have notably become more issue-oriented, and they have learned to use the elections as forums to vent dissatisfactions and yearnings. Pleasantly, hyperbolic campaign promises no longer assure a candidate's triumph.
A participatory society was gradually shaping up in the 1970s; this process, in the main, has become institutionalized, particularly since 1984, with the promulgation of the nation's comprehensive Public Officials Election and Recall Law.
Institutionalization serves to make the democratic process almost irreversible: it certainly cannot be reversed by a small group of people. Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington was right in his observation that the explosion of political participation, without corresponding institutionalization, often ended up in political instability in developing countries. The ROC is lucky to have escaped the pitfall.
The ROC's economic growth is well known to the world, but its political advances have too often been ignored or misinterpreted. Without a rapid rise in the standard of living of an underdeveloped nation, democracy and political participation cannot thrive; conversely, without a sound political system and sufficient channels of participation, economic growth will be stymied.
As MIT professor Lucian W. Pye indicates in his new book, Asian Power and Politics, the Republic of China on Taiwan is possibly the best working example of the general theory that economic progress should bring in its wake democratic inclinations and a healthy surge of pluralism, which effectively undercut the foundations of the authoritarian rule common to developing countries.
Political participation and economic growth have been making improvements in tandem. They are helping to shape a vigorous pluralistic society in the ROC. The participatory process has also contributed significantly to social cohesion and integration, narrowing the cognition gap between the effort for true democracy and the necessity of preventing the satisfaction of Chinese Communist ambitions.