Taiwan’s gradual process of democratization has been celebrated as one of the most successful cases of political transformation. This transformation is incomplete, however, with Taiwan experiencing an intense politicization of society and protracted political struggles as a legacy of its one-party past. This book addresses the problems of protracted democratic transitions that occur when a one-party state has been incompletely dismantled. In Taiwan, the transition from one-party authoritarianism to multi-party politics was initially
smooth. Power has already changed hands through the ballot box three times since 2000. However, political and social practices established before the political transition continue to affect politics today. When an old dominant
party like the Kuomintang still thrives after the end of one-party rule, the process of political liberalization contains within itself the seeds of structural politicization, the book argues. This updated and expanded second edition delves into key events and changes since the publication of the first edition in 2011. It contains a wealth of new material and research, including elite and expert interviews recently conducted in Taiwan. The second
edition also more explicitly addresses the portability of the lessons from Taiwan’s political transition to the political future of the one-party system in Mainland China. The enduring value of the study lies in its deep, anthropologically inspired analysis of the phenomenon of politicization stemming from Taiwan’s one-party
legacy, and its effects on the sustainability of democratic politics. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of East Asian politics and other transitional societies. In an era when legacy political institutions and practicesare challenged also in established democracies, and intense politicization afflicts American and European politics, the book’s argument has a broader resonance.