Since the 1990s, many countries have adopted various quota systems to promote higher levels of women’s political representation. International research confirm that such quota systems have had a positive impact on increasing women’s political participation. In Taiwan, studies on women’s political participation also shown that reserved seats for women have significantly boosted their involvement in politics. However, few existing studies have specifically focused on the political participation of indigenous women. The election results from 2002 to 2018 indicate a growing number of indigenous women running for and being elected to office. But what factors explain this increase in political participation? Is it the reserved seats for women system, political dynamics, or the background characteristics of the candidates that play the key role in encouraging indigenous women's involvement in politics? This paper analyzes data from local councilor elections between 2002 and 2018 and finds that most female candidates have prior experience in community involvement or political-related activities. Additionally, KMT nomination or recommendation, as well as incumbent status, significantly contribute to the election chances and vote share of indigenous female candidates. This paper analyzes the data of local councilor elections from 2002 to 2018, and finds that most of the female candidates have experience in community involvement or political-related experiences. KMT nomination or recommendation, as well as incumbent status, contribute to the election chances and vote share of indigenous female candidates, which aligns with existing research on women councilors at the national and municipal levels. The impact of the reserved seats for women system is reflected in its role in motivating participation. In line with previous findings on ethnic voting patterns, a candidate’s ethnicity is also significantly associated with their election chances and vote share, with Amis, Paiwan, and Atayal ethnic background positively influencing electoral performance. Lastly, female characteristics and breaking gender stereotypes through effective political performance help improve the election outcomes for indigenous female candidates.

Although public opinion in Taiwan is increasingly in favor of gay rights, there is no corresponding trend at the elite level and no concrete policy changes have been achieved. Based on the logic of electoral competition and political socialization, this paper takes the 2014 elections for municipal councilors in Taiwan as an example and examines the factors influencing support for LGBT equality among local politicians. Theoretically, although the centrifugal effect of the SNTV system motivates candidates of the same party to differ from each other on a variety of issues, political socialization, on the contrary, encourages a more unified issue stance taken among party members. The results of multilevel models suggest that there is little linkage between the characteristics of constituents, the electoral rule, and candidates’ stances on gay rights. However, both partisanship and age play an indispensable role. Candidates who are members of the DPP or one of the liberal parties are more likely to support LGBT rights than their KMT counterparts.

This study uses the method of two-stage least squares of dynamic panel data models to examine the variables closely related to electoral stability and change in Taiwan, especially focusing on the impact of electoral reform of the Legislative Yuan in 2008 on voting behavior. To account for causal effects, the analysis includes 1,820 observations consisted of the 364 township and village-level units of five legislative elections from 1998 to 2012. The data sources come from the archive of election outcomes officially released by the Central Election Commission, and the statistical yearbooks published by county and city governments. The findings reveal that the variables of electoral reforms, types of electoral system, gender ratio, the level of educational attainment, and proportion of civil servants present statistically significant associations with the index of vote volatility. In addition, the factors of macroeconomic conditions, voting patterns, and geographical contexts emerge as statistically significant and in the anticipated directions. The empirical results demonstrate the Duverger’s law and also the self-fulfilling prophecy; i.e., the reforms of electoral system exert a profound effect of the stability and change of voting behavior. There are at least three academic implications that can be drawn from the outcome of this study. First, this study verifies the relationship between electoral system, party system, and electoral stability and change. Second, it empirically measures the vote volatility index which might be valuable for campaign strategies. Last, different from the qualitative and limited dependent variable models in the previous studies of political participation, this study takes advantage of a dynamic panel data model to assess the impact of electoral reforms on stability and change in voting behavior. Developing an electoral model that is both concise and accurate awaits future research.

In nation-wide local elections held on November 29, 2014, the Kuomintang (KMT) suffered its worst defeat in the post-war history of local elections in Taiwan. The party saw its control of the country’s 22 local executive posts dwindle from 15 to only 6. Most notable among the KMT’s setbacks was its mayoral election defeat in the Taipei City, which had been run by a KMT mayor for 16 years. Ko Wen-je, an independent who ran under the banner of a “grand opposition alliance,” defeated KMT candidate Sean Lien by nearly 250,000 votes. The KMT’s post-election review report pointed to spill-over effects from the Taipei election to other local contests as one of the reasons for its crushing defeat nation-wide.

Did the “Ko Wen-je phenomenon” truly produce such spill-over effects? This study looks at the Hsinchu City mayoral election, using various empirical data to assess potential spill-over effects from Ko’s Taipei candidacy to that of DPP Hsinchu City mayoral candidate Lin Chi-jian. Hierarachical non-linear modeling is applied to analyze a combination of individual-level and macro-level data. The data analysis shows that with respect to individual-level variables, voters’ preference for Lin Chi-jian, party-orientation, and age clearly influenced the level of support for Lin’s candidacy. At the macro-level, support for Lin was positively correlated with Ko Wen-je’s level of support and media exposure as well as positive commentary on Ko’s candidacy on television news programs. The results of the study confirm the existence of coattail effects of the Ko Wen-je phenomenon in Taiwan’s 2014 local elections.

We use the event study approach to examine the impact of six direct presidential elections from 1996 to 2016 on the Taiwan stock market. Based on whether the pre-election polls show a significant winner or not, we separate all samples into expected and unexpected subsamples. We find a negative abnormal return during the pre-election windows and a positive abnormal return for the 30-day election period for the whole samples. However, the Cumulative Average Abnormal Returns (CAR) are not greater for the unexpected subsamples than they are for the expected subsamples, an outcome not consistent with the prediction of the Uncertain Information Hypothesis (UIH). Moreover, according to entrepreneurs’ support for a specific candidate before the election dates, we divide their shares into the “Kuomintang-party-concept” and the “Democratic-Progressive-Partyconcept” stocks. We investigate the election effect on these two concept stocks, as well as on their subsidiary company shares. Moreover, we find that the expected-losing-party stocks have a smaller CAR during the preevent window but a greater CAR during the whole 30-day window than the expected-winning-party shares, as predicted by the UIH. These findings suggest that investors in the Taiwan stock market have a stronger reaction to bad news than to good news.

Political machines are built to distribute spoils, buy support, and influence election outcome. Existing research argues that political machines target poor and illiterate voters because their votes are cheap to acquire with non-programmatic benefits. Using the case of Hong Kong, we critically examine the extent to which the ruling coalition utilizes non-programmatic benefits in elections where votes are generally too expensive to purchase. Using interviews with local councilors and data from the 2015 Hong Kong Election Study, we find that: (1) pro-Beijing parties tend to specialize in the provision of highly individualized services; (2) demand for these services tends to come from non-poor citizens; and (3) unable to monitor individual votes, pro-Beijing parties use services and benefits to influence the turnout of the recipients, rather than their vote choice. These findings suggest that the growing electoral strength of pro-Beijing parties in Hong Kong reflects their responsiveness to constituent demands.