Citizens` Awareness of the New MMM Electoral System in Taiwan: A Cohort Analysis

Abstract

Electoral systems provide the rules of translating votes into seats and\r\nthus decide who wins and loses in elections. Few would doubt the critical\r\nroles that electoral systems play in politics. Yet current literature is\r\ncuriously silent about how ordinary citizens perceive and understand\r\nthe electoral system, especially during the transition period when the\r\nsystem is undergoing fundamental changes. The experiences of electoral\r\nreform in Taiwan provide an opportune case to fill up this gap.\r\nTaiwan transformed its legislative electoral system from a half-century\r\nlong SNTV (single non-transferable vote) system to a MMM\r\n(mixed-member majoritarian) electoral system in 2008. The new MMM\r\nsystem is a sharp departure from the original SNTV system in the total\r\nnumber of legislative seats, the district magnitude, electoral formula,\r\nand ballot structure. This essay intends to introduce the new MMM system\r\nand explore citizens’ awareness of the new MMM system in general.\r\nAlso, it explores the changes of citizens’ knowledge of the new electoral\r\nsystem before and after the 2008 legislative election. Given the significant\r\ndifferences between the SNTV system and the MMM system, it\r\nfirstly tests of citizens’ overall knowledge of the new MMM system.\r\nThen, with the help of survey data, it examines the changes of citizens’\r\nknowledge in election periods and non-election periods. The findings\r\nshow a majority of citizens are not fully aware of the institutional components\r\nof the new MMM system. In particular, the threshold regulation\r\nreceives the least attention by citizens. Furthermore, it finds that citizens’\r\nknowledge of the new MMM system is a function of electoral momentum,\r\ni.e., citizens’ knowledge rises as the election date approaches\r\nand declines after the election date. Then we proceed with a more detailed\r\ncohort analyses to examine which groups of citizens are more\r\nlikely to pick up information related to the electoral system changes.\r\nOur findings partially support our electoral cycle hypothesis of electoral\r\nsystem knowledge.