ABSTRACT
As Huntington pointed out in The Third Wave, democracy is a set of procedures for selecting leaders and holding them accountable; it is not a guarantee of good government. Still, there are meaningful differences between life in a democracy and life under an authoritarian regime. At the most basic level, democracy gives public officials incentives to treat ordinary people well, since everyday citizens have the power to take away their authority.1 In Taiwan, political reform did not create a perfect society, but it dissipated the cloud of fear and tension that hung over the island during the years of White Terror and political repression. Reform acted like an open window on a breezy day: it destabilized institutions, overturned established practices and let in many annoying things. But it also blew away years of stagnation and energized Taiwan’s people.
