Written by Brian Hioe. The Central Election Commission (CEC) has approved a referendum on resuming operations for the recently shuttered Ma-anshan nuclear power plant, while rejecting a referendum on capital punishment. Although the KMT pushed for both referendums as part of its electoral strategy, it did not appeal to the general public with either referendum, perhaps reflecting weakness of the KMT at the local level.
Written by Milo Hsieh. On December 18th, Taiwanese voters headed to the polls to vote on four key referendum topics. They rejected all four referendum proposals in a close but decisive vote. The votes were held on four topics, each of which were put forth by an opponent to a policy change pushed by the Tsai administration. Voters were asked explicitly whether they support: 1) Restarting Taiwan’s defunct fourth nuclear power plant, 2) Rejecting imports of U.S. pork containing Ractopamine, 3) Tying referendums to future national elections or leaving them as separate votes, 4) Rejecting the ongoing construction of a light natural gas ship dock in Taoyuan.
Written by Yu-tzung Chang. Adam Enders, an Assistant Professor from University of Louisville, published a research paper in the Journal of Politics this year (2021). Comparing the degree of affective polarization between the political elite and the masses in the U.S., he found out that the political elites’ affective polarization is higher than the general public, and meanwhile the affective polarization is more diverge than ideology. The affective polarization of the Americans is becoming more and more revealing in current political environment.
Written by Ian Inkster. What may turn out to be the most distinguishing characteristic of the referendums is that none of them directly address the economic catastrophes rendered by the ongoing pandemic. In large capitalist nations elsewhere, especially in the West – not so visible in, say, Japan or anywhere east of the so-called Middle East – the debate on economic futures is primarily centred on anglophone and European concerns. The pandemic in most nations has accelerated debates and deepened the divides concerning employment, technological change, and social outcomes of government policies. In particular, the big question is back to the future: How can workers improve their conditions (from no-contract employment through to spasmodic multiple tasking) and how can or should policymaking contribute?
Written by Mark Wenyi Lai. On December 18th, the Taiwanese people voted for four national referendum questions. The vote was initially scheduled on August 28th but was postponed due to the pandemic prevention policy. The four questions were as follows:
Referendums and Their Relationship to Taiwan’s Politics Written by Chia-hung Tsai. Perhaps the biggest challenge for the DPP is the import of the US pork referendum. However, the KMT argues that the referendum targets every pork product containing ractopamine, which is used to enable animals to grow larger and leaner. This drug is currently legal in the US but banned in Taiwan. Many polls show that most people agree to ban meat containing ractopamine, partly because food safety is a salient issue in Taiwan, especially after the gutter oil incidents in 2014. The DPP seems to frame this referendum as the plebiscite on whether Taiwan would ally with China or US.
Written by Timothy Rich, Isabel Eliassen, Andi Dahmer and Carolyn Brueggemann. We ask to what extent has the public’s view on same-sex marriage changed in recent years and to what extent this influenced the 2020 election? The 2018 local elections clearly indicated a shift in the political saliency of the issue of same-sex marriage legislation over the past several years, while Tsai’s re-election with a continued Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative majority would suggest that opposition to the issue has declined in salience.
Written by Tim Rich, Isabel Eliassen and Andi Dahmer. Despite signs of LGBT support in Taiwan, many analysts and commentators ignored the number of Taiwanese who had no set opinion on same-sex marriage and LGBT rights and overlooked the role that issue-framing plays in political contests.
Written by Ian Inkster, Mark Wenyi Lai and Victoria Hsin Hsin Chang. Identity Politics in the International Context The global thesis is that industrial democracies
Written by Ian Inkster, Mark Wenyi Lai and Victoria Hsin Hsin Chang. The academic commentaries now hitting the scene in the Taiwanese newspapers and social
Written by Timothy Rich. Alongside local elections, Taiwanese also faced ten national referendums on Saturday, 24th of November. This proliferation was made possible by changes
Written by Lauren Dickey. On Saturday, 24 November, the people of Taiwan went to the polls to vote for over 11,000 local-level officials and voice
Taiwan Insight 