ABSTRACT
The recent democratic transition of the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC) appears extremely successful - a "political miracle", to match Taiwan's earlier, much touted "economic miracle". This chapter examines how the evolution of Taiwan's democracy has affected its security situation. It begins with a synopsis and model of democratization in the ROC. The chapter then describes several theoretical perspectives which imply that democratization in Taiwan might have been expected to set off a security threat by raising and polarizing the interlinked issues of national identity and cross-Strait relations. It reviews the evidence and expresses that democracy in Taiwan has actually worked to ameliorate or dampen conflict over national identity and that the only danger that this holds for the security of the Republic of China comes from the misperception of Taiwan's domestic politics by the People's Republic of China (PRC).
