Incorporating Local Contexts into Explaining Voting Behavior in Taiwan

Abstract

Most electoral studies have ”atomized” voters, detaching them from their local contexts. To provide evidence that local context does matter in voting behavior in Taiwan, this study will combine individual and ecological data relating to the Taiwan presidential election of 2004. The results show that both local ethnic composition and the economic situation of a township ran influence the voting behavior of residents. First, people who identify themselves as Taiwanese are more likely to vote DPP, while the higher the percentage of Hohlo there is in a township, the more likely its residents are to identify themselves as Taiwanese, and conversely, the higher the percentage of mainlanders, the less likely residents are to identify themselves as Taiwanese. Second, residents educated to senior high school-level or above are more likely to vote DPP in more affluent townships, while those educated to junior high school-level or below are more likely to vote DPP in more deprived townships. These findings suggest that similar people vote differently in different places.