ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of public officials’ ethics and anticorruption efforts in Taiwan. It outlines the forms and structures of anticorruption agencies and major laws and regulations, and spells out what Taiwanese and civil societies have done to reduce the level of corruption in society. In a democratic society, elected representatives of the people and an active civil society ensure that public service managers adhere to acceptable standards of professional conduct in carrying out their official responsibilities. If public figures have the obligation to be monitored by the media and criticized by the public, then the free press has played a crucial role in anticorruption activities in Taiwan. Law enforcement in Taiwan has made a great effort to control corruption by conducting thorough investigations at its roots and thus preventing unscrupulous candidates from winning. In South Korea, civil society groups that published “blacklists” of candidates and parties tainted with corruption had a strong influence on the election outcome.
