The Politics of Polarization: Taiwan in Comparative Perspective
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Over the past year and more, Taiwan’s political elite has been deadlocked over the question of deepening economic relations with the People’s Republic of China. This controversial issue has led to a standoff between the executive and legislative branches, sparked a frenzy of social activism and a student occupation of the legislature, and contributed to President Ma Ying-jeou’s deep unpopularity.
On October 17-18, the Taiwan Democracy Project at CDDRL, with the generous support of the Taipei Economic and Culture Office, will host its annual conference at Stanford University to examine the politics of polarization in Taiwan.
This conference will bring together specialists from Taiwan, the U.S., and elsewhere in Asia to examine the sources and implications of this political polarization in comparative perspective. It will include a special case study of the Trade in Services Agreement with China that triggered this past year’s protests, as well as a more general overview of the politics of trade liberalization in Taiwan, prospects for Taiwan’s integration into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other regional trade agreements, and a consideration of the implications for Taiwan’s long-term democratic future.
Conference speakers will include: Chung-shu Wu, the president of the Chung-hwa Institute of Economic Research (CIER) in Taipei; Steve Chan of the University of Colorado; Roselyn Hsueh of Temple University; Yun-han Chu, the president of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation; and Thitinan Pongsudhirak of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
Panels will examine the following questions:
1. What are the sources and implications of political polarization in Taiwan, and how have these changed in recent years?
2. How does Taiwan’s recent experience compare to political polarization in other countries in Asia (e.g. South Korea, Thailand) and elsewhere (the US)?
3. To what extent does the latest political deadlock in Taiwan reflect concern over the specific issue of trade with the People’s Republic of China, versus a deeper, systemic set of problems with Taiwan’s democracy?
4. How are globalization and trade liberalization reshaping Taiwan’s domestic political economy, and what are the prospects for forging a stronger pro-trade coalition in Taiwan that transcends the current partisan divide?
The conference will take place October 17-18 in the Bechtel Conference Room in Encina Hall at Stanford University. It is free and open to the public.
Conference Resources
Conference Papers
How Cross-Strait Trade and Investment Is Affecting Income and Wealth Inequality in Taiwan by Chien-Fu Lin, National Taiwan University
Generational Differences in Attitudes towards Cross-Straits Trade by Ping-Yin Kuan, Department of Sociology & International Program in Asia-Pacific Studies, National Chengchi University
Change and the Unchanged of Polarized Politics in Taiwan by Min-Hua Huang, National Taiwan University; Center for East Asia Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution
Social Media, Social Movements and the Challenge of Democratic Governability by Boyu Chen, National Sun Yat-sen University, Institute of Political Science
Coping with the Challenge of Democratic Governance under Ma Ying-jeou by Yun-han Chu, National Taiwan University
Taiwan’s Bid for TPP Membership and the Potential Impact on Taiwan-U.S. Relations by Kwei-Bo Huang, National Chengchi University, Department of Diplomacy
In the Wake of the Sunflower Movement: Exploring the Political Consequences of Cross-Strait Integration by Pei-shan Lee, National Chung Cheng University, Political Science Department
The Roots of Thailand’s Political Polarization in Comparative Perspective by Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Chulalongkorn University; The Institute of Security and International Studies
The Role of the United States in Cross-Strait Economic Integration by Chen-Dong Tso, National Taiwan University
The China Factor and the Generational Shift over National Identity by Mark Weatherall, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
Taiwan’s Strategy for Regional Economic Integration by Chung-Shu Wu, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research
Polarized Electorates in South Korea and Taiwan: The Role of Political Trust under Conservative Governments by Hyunji Lee, Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia
Polarization in Taiwan Politics by Steve Chan, University of Colorado, Boulder
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PROGRAM
Friday May 9, 2014
9:00am Introduction
9:10am Does Naturalization Foster the Political Integration of Immigrants? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design in Switzerland
Jens Hainmueller & Dominik Hangartner
Discussant: Rafaela Dancygier
9:50am Lingua Franca: How Language Shapes the Direction of Public Opinion
Efrén Pérez
Discussant: Rahsaan Maxwell
10:30am BREAK
10:50am Transnational Ties and Support for International Redistribution
Lauren Prather
Discussant: Ali Valenzuela
11:30am Gender-Based Stereotyping and Negotiation Performance: an Experimental Study
Jorge Bravo
Discussant: Rob Ford
12:10pm BREAK
1:00pm The Rhetoric of Closed Borders: Quotas, Lax Enforcement and Illegal Migration
Giovanni Facchini & Cecilia Testa
Discussant: Karen Jusko
1:40pm Varieties of Diaspora Management
Harris Mylonas
Discussant: Yotam Margalit
2:20pm BREAK
2:40pm The Situational Context of Attitudes Towards Immigrant-Origin Minorities
Rahsaan Maxwell
Discussant: Jorge Bravo
3:20pm The Politics of Churchgoing and its Consequences among Whites, Blacks and Latinos in the U.S.
Ali Valenzuela
Discussant: Cara Wong
Saturday May 10, 2014
9:50am How State Support of Religion Shapes Religious Attitudes Toward Muslims
Mark Helbling
Discussant: Sara Goodman
10:30am BREAK
10:50am Opposition to Race Targeted Policies – Ideology or Racism? Particular or Universal? Experimental Evidence from Britain
Rob Ford
Discussant: Jens Hainmueller
11:30am Conflict and Consensus on American Public Opinion on Illegal Immigration
Matthew Wright
Discussant: Efrén Pérez
12:10pm BREAK
1:00pm The Electoral Geography of American Immigration, 1880-1900
Karen Jusko
Discussant: Dan Hopkins
1:40pm Do We Really Know That Employers Want Illegal Immigration?
Maggie Peters
Discussant: Giovanni Facchini
2:20pm BREAK
2:40pm Nurture over Nature: Explaining Muslim Integration Discrepancies in Britain, France and the United States
Justin Gest
Discussant: Claire Adida
3:20pm Immigration and Electoral Appeals over the Past Half Century: A Sketch of the Evidence
Rafaela M. Dancygier & Yotam Margalit
Discussant: Cecilia Testa
4:00pm Looking Ahead
CISAC Conference Room
Encina Hall Central, 2nd floor
616 Serra St.
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305
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For several weeks in March and April, university students in Taiwan camped out in the legislative and cabinet offices to protest the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services between China and Taiwan. Joined by hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese, spilling out to the streets, the demonstrators claim President Ma Ying-jeou negotiated the agreement with China without seeking any public input and bypassing the legislative process entirely. Implications of this historical social movement include the functioning of Taiwan's democratic institutions, which have undergone regime change but democratic consolidation remains in question. Additionally, a potential cross-strait crisis can affect U.S. - China relations in the post-Cold War era. Two important forces are also at play: China's meteoric playing-by-its-own-rules economic rise, and the evolving Taiwanese national identity after its transition to democracy. This talk will center on the national specific consequences of liberal trade and democracy for Taiwan's economic globalization and political development.
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Roselyn Hsueh is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Temple University and currently, Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the politics of market reform, comparative capitalism, development, and other areas of international and comparative political economy. (Her publications include China's Regulatory State: A New Strategy for Globalization (Cornell University Press, 2011) and "China and India in the Age of Gloablization: Sectoral Variation in Postliberalization Reregulation," Comparative Political Studies 45 (2012): 32-61. She received her Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and has served as a Hayward on R. Alker Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Southern California and conducted research as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
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