恭賀本所陳宗巖、黃韋豪、安兆驥、劉正山老師在美國政治學會發表最新研究。

"Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit? Taiwan's Politics of U.S. Meat Imports”

發表人: 陳宗巖教授、碩士生吳奕勳

摘要

It is convenient for opposition party members to criticize and oppose public policies made by the ruling party. However, when the opposition party becomes the ruling party, its members are likely to support the policies they once opposed. This phenomenon is often called the Miles law that “where you stand dep-ends on where you sit.”

This study focuses on the association between Taiwanese legislators' policy preferences and the political positions in which they stand. The probable fault  lines that may differentiate legislators' positions include incumbent vs. opposition party, pan-blue camp vs. pan-green camp, constituency vs. party-list, agri-cultural vs. urban regions, six municipalities vs. other counties (cities), and interests before or after elections. The policy area will focus on the Taiwanese government's easing restrictions on imports of American beef and pork containing ractopamine in 2012 and 2020.

This study hypothesizes that Miles law would hold in Taiwan's domestic politics in legislative preference for importing U.S. Beef and Pork containing ractop-amine. However, constituency legislators, legislators in agricultural constituents or legislators after the elections are less likely to change their policy prefe-rences than their counterparts. Empirically, this study will collect Taiwanese legislators' policy position in importing U.S. beef and pork from 2010 to 2020 a-s the dependent variable and conduct quantitative analysis to test the validity of our hypotheses.

"Individual Submission Summary China Factors and Issues Framing in Taiwan's Referendum”

發表人: 黃韋豪教授

摘要

“China card,” an external and diplomatic factor, could often be seen during elections at all levels, including those elections relative irrelevant to foreign affai-rs. Put differently, the China factor seems to affect public perceptions in Taiwan across different events in politics. For instance, during the 2021 referendu-m, which issues mostly not about Cross-strait relations, the DDPs referred to the voting as competitions between the U.S. and China that Taiwan inevitab-ly involved in the campaign. However, does playing China factor as a strategy of issues framing functions in Taiwan?

To further answer this question of China's factor on political issues framing in Taiwan, this paper conducts an online survey focusing on the referendum of r-actopamine pork in 2021. The survey collects data on public perception of the voting on the ractopamine pork, threat perception to China, willingness to v-ote, and other geographic variables weeks before the referendum. With this data on public perception, the paper finds that China factors do not significantl-y sharpen people's understanding of the ractopamine pork.

Nevertheless, the paper identifies moderate effects of China factors on people's willingness to participate in this referendum. By analyzing the data, the pa-per is expected to provide another piece of empirical events on China's factor in Taiwan but focus on public perception instead of voting behaviors.

"Mastery of Nature: A Daoist Inquiry”

發表人: 安兆驥教授

摘要

Seeking to diagnose the pathology of environmental politics and theory in the West (from the Ancients to the moderns, and the anti-modern), and to offer a solution to it, this paper takes three paces back as it were and situates the Western project of mastery of nature within the foundation and the criticism of th-e mastery of nature as a moral and political worldview. It argues that the thesis of the presumption that we can master nature is a modern disease, one th-at has surprising resonance and anticipation in Daoism.

By interpreting the difference between the ancient and the modern worlds in their approaches to the mastery of nature through a Daoist lens, e.g., nature c-annot be mastered, this paper shows that even the great thinkers in the West who promulgated the mastery of nature did not believe it could be mastere-d. The political and philosophical implication of this Daoist inquiry seems to be this: the Ancients and the great political philosophers of the modern period i-n thinking with the Ancients have largely arrived at the Daoist conclusion. It is us the contemporaries who have not.

"Moral Stances and the Preservation of Political Trust during the Pandemic"

發表人: 劉正山教授

摘要

It is critical for social scientists to understand how their fellow citizens’ political preferences change and radicalize under pressure and chaotic phenomena. One of the scenarios to observe is whether, and if so, how confidence in democratic governance is preserved in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further understanding of the public’s political behavior (i.e., conform to the social-distance policies), attitudes toward political leaders, such as the rally ‘round the flag effect’, and the consolidation or destabilization of trust in the government are critical aspects to assess how democracy could function and consolidate. Governments' political legitimacy hinges on whether they are seen to deliver.

The mainstream media are reaffirming their authority as reliable sources for facts and opinions, bringing expertise and explanations to the table. More people are also on social media in this COVID-19 crisis atmosphere, consuming ‘alternative’ and dubious content. Being steeped in social media all the time explains more than the indirect effect of the media, especially among people who already show sympathies for radical thinking. As we are now moving to strategies that differ per population group (depending on e.g., age, occupational sector) with the aim of gradually regaining more freedom of movement, we have reached a tipping point.

Departing from local observation and close investigation, this study asks fundamental but unanswered questions that are critical to the sustention of democracy: How did Taiwan voters form their trust toward the government when opinion polarization was severe between partisan voters? How are moral stances related to such attitudes and opinions about government measures?

This study is built upon an analysis of web survey data collected from 2021 to 2022 when the pandemic crisis escalated. This study utilizes multiple correspondence analysis to explore the latent associations between pairs of variables, particularly social media use, opinions about vaccine policies, moral stances, and political trust. The results are expected to show the patterns that meet democratization scholars’ expectations and those that go beyond existing theoretical reasoning.

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