Problems of Democracy

Last week, Taiwan's former president Chen Shui-bian was arrested by the current government under charges of corruption and money-laundering. Former President Chen is a member of the recently created Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which gained the presidency for the first time during the 2000 elections. The DPP is known as the pro-independence party, and its emergence as a key party signaled the creation of a true democracy. This past March however, the Nationalist Party regained power in a controversial election and re-established ties to the Chinese government. The Taiwanese media, though clearly polarized between the two parties, reported issues of illegal vote buying on both sides. There is also evidence that both parties paid for former Taiwanese residents to fly back to Taiwan to vote in the election.

Although there is evidence for the charges against Former President Chen, his arrest is of huge concern to the future of the DPP. Corruption has been a huge problem in Taiwanese history, but governmental officials have largely gone unpunished because of the continual reign of the Nationalist Party. After the 2000 elections, the DPP decided not to pursue the allegations against the Nationalist Pary in the spirit of putting the past behind and encouraging a more responsible future. Chen's arrest signals a return to the past reign of the Nationalist Party and raises questions about the future of Taiwanese democracy.

The future of Taiwanese democracy depends upon cooperation between these two parties. The BBC notes that, "Taiwan's young democracy needs opposition parties, which are one of the main means of checks and balances." As articulated by James Madison in Federalist Papers 51, checks and balances are necessary to spread out powers throughout the entire government. Currently the Nationalist Party not only has control of the presidency under Ma Ying-jeou, but also holds 75% of the seats in the legislature. Even members of the Nationalist Party are starting to fear a return of one-party rule in Taiwan.