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Abstract
This paper examines the major parties' vote-equalizing strate-gies and the impacts of these strategies on candidates' vote-distribu-tion under a SNTV electoral system. From this perspective, this study tries to observe party competition and party politics in Taiwan since the 1980s. Based on a study on legislative elections from 1983 to 1995, this paper shows some research findings. First, the KMT uses the local factions and "responsibility zone system" to mobilize and allocate potential votes to her candidates. Therefore, the vote-distribution of the KMT candidates tends to be concentrated on some parts of the electoral district. On the other hand, the DPP and NP cannot be helped by the local organizations so that the vote shares of their candidates tend to be scattered across the district. Secondly, from a longitudinal perspective, the vote shares of the KMT candidates are getting scattered. This tendency has become evident since the end of the 1980s, when the opposition parties were gradually organized and institutionalized. Thirdly, the influence of the local factions has gradually become weak because of the devel-opment of social economy and the emergence of the opposition par-ties. All of these tendencies show that the KMT's campaign system which depends on vote allocation, local factions and grass-root organizations has become shaky.
Abstract
Party and constituency are two major forces faced by legislators. They influence legislators' representative behavior in different degrees and in different ways. This paper examines how these two forces influence Taiwanese legislators' representative styles and behavior. Research findings show that the representative styles of Taiwan's legislators have changed radically since the mid-1980s.Many legislators changed from a party-oriented style to a constituency-oriented style. This paper suggests a possible reason for this radical change. Legislators have to build their personal vote because they face intensive party competition resulted from the emergence of an opposition party, the DPP. The legislators under a single non-transferable vote system cannot count only on their party to get re-election. Most of them have to show their distinctive characteristics and hard-working in the legislative Yuan and in their constituency. They may even deviate from the party line to get attention and support from their constituencies sometimes. Based on a case study on the third term of legislators, this research has several findings. First, approximately two-thirds of the legislators are constituency-oriented, and less than one-third of the legislators are party-oriented. Secondly, the representative orientations of legislators affect their representative behavior profoundly. Party-oriented legislators make more efforts in the law-making process, while constituency-oriented legislators make more efforts in their constituencies. Meanwhile, the party-oriented legislators follow the party line more than their constituency-oriented fellows do. Thirdly, the representative orientations of individual legislators are affected by their vote-getting styles, party affiliation, and constituency styles. The legislators who rely more on their constituency than party to get re-election, the legislators of KMT, and the legislators from homogeneous constituencies, are more likely to be constituency-oriented.
Abstract
The axis of this paper is legislators' reelections, and the purpose is to explore legislators' reelections under SNTV electoral system. At the beginning, this paper discusses the fourth legislators' reelections in the fifth legislative election then examines the relationship between the major four factors, including party, personal performance, local faction and constituency, and legislators' reelections in order to find out the important variables of affecting legislators' reelections. Finally, this paper will use binary logistic model to build ”the model of legislators' reelections” for comparing the degree of all the variables affecting legislators' reelections. Research findings show that among all the four factors, party and personal performance are the most critical ones affecting the fourth legislators' reelections in the fifth legislative election. Speaking precisely, the nomination of party and legislators' performances (including legislative performance, services of the constituency and the news-exposures in term), which compare with the other legislators' in the same constituency are the important variables affecting legislators' reelection.
