Democratization and the Effectiveness of Local Action — From the Perspective of a Two-wave Study on the Perceptions of Local Taiwanese Leaders (1993-2001)
Author: Da-chi Liao, Chi-cheng Huang
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
This paper examines the relationship between democracy and effectiveness.This survey of the local elite in Taiwan in two separate periods, 1993 and 2001,defines the term “effectiveness” as the local elites’ evaluation of local effectivenessin dealing with serious problems facing the locality. After reviewing relatedtheories and hypotheses and identifying various factors that might affecteffectiveness, the paper divides these variables into two categories: factors bothdirectly and indirectly related to democratization. Empirical testing finds that thelocal elite in Taiwan actually held a more positive evaluation of local effectiveness inthe second wave than they did in the first. Through cross-analyses of each factor,increases in the local elites’ positive evaluation of local effectiveness are found to beunrelated to factors of the first category. Among factors of the second category,only the variables of local elite position and self-evaluation of their influence arestrongly related to local elites’ evaluation of local effectiveness. This findingsupports the hypothesis of this study: democracy and effectiveness are positivelyrelated.