Divided Government in Taiwan`s Local Politics: Public Evaluations of City/County Government Performance

Abstract

Divided government exists where different political parties control the executive and legislative branches in a political system. This has become a common feature of Taiwan`s national and local political landscape. In the literature, scholars tend to disagree with each other concerning whether divided government leads to dysfunctional politics. This study attempts to shed some light on the issue by exploring the effects of divided government at the city/county level on the public`s perceptions of their mayor/magistrate`s performance in Taiwan. We take advantage of a 2002 survey of the public`s evaluations of government performance and examine whether different forms of divided government affect residents` responses. Our findings indicate that residents in cities or counties under divided government express more negative views, although their party identification seems to be an important intervening variable in shaping their opinion.