International Relations of the Asia-Pacific

February 2003 (Volume 3, No. 1)

 

Local factions and the Kuomintang
in Taiwan's electoral politics
by Chung-li Wu

Abstract

Local factions in Taiwan exert considerable influence over elections, facilitating their role as intermediaries in both the candidate selection process and grassroots voter mobilization. This study examines the tangled relationship between the Kuomintang (KMT) and local factions in the electoral process. For decades, the KMT used patronage to ally itself with local factions to maintain its dominance in elections and to legitimize its governing base. Its monopoly over economic privilege permitted the authoritarian KMT regime to construct electoral alliances with local factions by sharing political power and material benefits with them in exchange for their KMT allegiance. Although factional allegiances serve the interests of the KMT, its alliance bonds are far from permanent. Change in electoral politics, then, is one of the best vantage points from which to observe the transformed relationship between the KMT and local factions. Furthermore, due to its flourishing economic relationship with mainland China since the late 1980s, the Taiwan government has come under pressure from local factions to adopt more liberal trade policies toward China. This research concludes that factionalism should remain an important component in Taiwan's political and economic arenas for the foreseeable future.