Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit:The Impact of the Incumbent on Taiwanese Legislators’ Stance on Issues of Importing US Pork and Beef
Author: Shiow-duan Hawang, Cheng-han Tsai, and You-chen Chen
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
In Taiwan (R.O.C.), the import bills of U.S. pork and beef have undergone the experiences of three different presidencies. Whenever an opposition party becomes the ruling party, it tends to change its posture toward the U.S. pork-beef issue, and vice versa where the previous incumbent shifts its position when it becomes the opposition. Therefore, there is an argument: where you stand depends on where you sit. However, this point needs to be confirmed through empirical evidence.
In our analysis using Ridge regression and the Logit models, we ascertain that the position taken by the ruling party plays a crucial role in shaping the queries and voting behavior of legislators on the U.S. pork-beef issue. Furthermore, being first-year legislators and representing certain regions also affects their queries and voting behavior.