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Lessons of Defeat: A Comparison of Taiwanese Ruling Parties' Responses to Electoral Defeat
Author(s) -
Fell Dafydd
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
asian politics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.193
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1943-0787
pISSN - 1943-0779
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-0787.2009.01147.x
Subject(s) - presidential system , democracy , political science , politics , power (physics) , political economy , government (linguistics) , general election , public administration , law , sociology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
In the last decade Taiwan has witnessed two changes in ruling party through elections. First, in 2000 the Kuomintang (KMT) was defeated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the presidential election. Then after eight years of DPP rule, the KMT regained control of central government in the parliamentary and presidential elections of 2008. This study compares the two parties' reactions to disastrous defeat. Have the parties learned the lessons of defeat by responding with rational reforms? In addition to this comparison, I assess the effectiveness of the KMT's reforms in contributing to its return to power. Although the DPP's fall from power is only just over a year old, this study can offer some insights into whether one can expect the DPP to recover sufficiently to offer a serious political challenge to KMT domination.