Democratization under One-Party Dominance: Explaining Taiwan`s Paradoxical Transition

Abstract

Two paradoxes characterize Taiwan’s democratic transition: the initiation of reform by the regime in power and the continued dominance of the ruling party after the opening of electoral competition. This record remains unrivaled by any other transitioning democracies. This article untangles these puzzles by arguing that Taiwan unusual transition owes as much to historical contingencies as to the judicious electoral engineering undertaken by the incumbent elite. As an émigré regime, the Kuomintang (KMT) relies on partial elections to consolidate its local base. These elections and related electoral systems create an electoral certainty that is crucial to both the regime’s opening in the mid-I 980s and its post-transition dominance. This confidence in its electoral competence precipitated the KMT’s initiation of democratic opening and has safeguarded the party after the transition. In conclusion, this article suggests that the Taiwan experience, though not duplicable, can be useful to other transitioning societies.