ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the role of leadership in Taiwan's democratization process. It explores the difficulties and challenges in Taiwan's politics following 2000 are due to partisan dysfunction and contested election results; the chapter reveals the ultimate cause of the troubles is the mutual distrust and personal animosity that existed between party leaders. The dysfunction of Taiwan's democracy and party politics in the years following the first peaceful transfer of power, from the Kuomintang (KMT) to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), cannot be explained by institutional factors alone. Conflicts between the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and the DPP gradually surfaced, with the ten-point agreement between Chen and Soong making the gulf between the two even wider. There is reason to hope that changes in party leadership can create new opportunities for reconciliation and dialogue, which are critical to the healthy functioning of party politics and further consolidation of Taiwan's democracy.