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Home Issues Backissues Volume 31, No.1 Voting Behavior under Mixed Electoral System: A Comparison between Taiwan and Japan during the Electoral Transition

Voting Behavior under Mixed Electoral System: A Comparison between Taiwan and Japan during the Electoral Transition

Ding-Ming Wang and Ming-Feng Kuo
2009 / 11
Volume 16, No.2

pp.101-130
10.6612/tjes.2009.16.02.101-130
Paper

Abstract

Mixed or Hybrid electoral system, a combination of single-member district with plurality (SMD) and proportional representation (PR), has drawn a lot of attention from all over the world in the past few years. Recent studies have focused on its characters and classifications, its impact on the diversified social development, the connection with strategic voting behavior, the interaction with the campaign strategy and party competition, and the formulation of new party system. Based on the survey conducted by Japanese Election Study (JES) and Taiwanese Election and Democratization Study (TEDS), we compare the dynamic voting behaviors between Japan and Taiwan, since both of them follow the same routine of electoral transformation from SNTV to Mixed system. The results show there do have some difference, especially the ticket splitting of the two ballots and the voting stability during system transition, between two countries. From the cross sectional data analysis, we find KMT and DPP received more consistent support in two separate ballots, comparing with the major parties in Japan. As for the panel data results, the convergence to major parties is confirmed in both countries while the trend is more obvious in Taiwan once again. In short, we find the small parties in Taiwan have relative little room for competition, comparing with those in Japan, under new Mixed system. The formulation of two party system is quite noticeable in Taiwan.

Keywords

Mixed system

Japan House Election

Taiwan Legislative Election

strait-and split-ticket voting

voting stability and change