Organizer: James Tong, UCLA
Chair: Andrew Nathan, Columbia University
Discussants: Edward Winckler, Columbia University; Bruce Dickson, George Washington
University
Hsin chi Kuan and Siu kai Lau, Chinese University
Based on recent survey research, this paper seeks to understand the extent and modes of political participation in Hongkong in its emerging system of party politics and transition to democracy. We will attempt to identify the socio political and demographic factors relating to varying extent and modes of political participation. And we will specify the distinctive features of political participation of Hongkong Chinese.
Huo yan Shyu, Academia Sinica; Ming tong Chen, National Taiwan University
Based on a thorough analysis of the changing configuration of the social values held by the Chinese on Taiwan, this paper revisits the recent popular debate on the persistence of a distinctive East Asian or Confucian ethos despite decades of rapid economic modernization and the pervasive penetration of western values. This paper provides a balanced account of both the transformative potential of the traditional culture and sources of its resiliency.
Fu Hu and Yun han Chu, National Taiwan University
This paper attempts a structural analysis of the underlying causes of the weakening of the authoritarian regime and a path-dependent analysis of the dynamics of the regime transformation process in Taiwan. We examine how broad structural conditions and changes have shaped the island's regime transition in ways that are especially conducive or obstructive to democratization. We argue that many aspects of the mass belief that was nurtured under the old regime turned out to be inimical to the development of democratic values. The societal momentum for democratic change was attenuated in recent years due to the polarization of national identity conflict and the meteoric rise of a populist president.
Would you like to return to the China & Inner Asia Table of Contents? Choose another area?