Public Faith in Democracy The Maturing of a (Skeptical) Democratic - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Public Faith in Democracy

The Maturing of a (Skeptical) Democratic Culture in Taiwan

REASONABLY HIGH SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY

Measuring Democratic Legitimacy in the Asian Barometer

• Support for Democracy (average of three percentages)
• 1. Agree: “Democracy is preferable to any other form of

government”

• 2. Agree: “Democracy is capable of solving the problems of our

society”

• 3. Agree: “Democracy may have its problems but it is still the best

form of government”

• Rejection of Authoritarianism (percent reject ALL three options for

authoritarian rule).

• 1. Get rid of parliament and elections and have a strong leader

decide

• 2. One-party rule
• 3. Military rule

65.7 73.0 61.7 69.5 77.1 67.9 63.1 74.3 74.4 44.3 38.1 51.9 44.3 67.9

10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 Taiwan Korea Philippines Mongolia Thailand Indonesia Singapore

Percentage % Country

Average Levels of Democratic Legitimacy in East Asia, 2010-2011

Average Democratic Legitimacy Rejection of all three authoritarian alternatives

40.4 47.2 50.8 46.8 54.8 59.7

25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75

2001 2005 2010

Percentage % Time Period

Trends in Democratic Legitimacy in Taiwan

Democracy is always preferable to any other kind

• f government

Democracy is capable of solving the problems of our society

58.5 76.2 66.8 72.3 49.1 65.1 49.1 39.9 21.0 30.7 26.9 41.1 33.1 41.1 0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 Korea Taiwan Mongolia Philippines Thailand Singapore Vietnam

Democracy vs. Economic Development

"If you had to choose between democracy and economic development, which would you say is more important?"

• 1. Economic

development is more important

• 2. Democracy is

more or equially important

15.1 17.8 34.8 53.8 22.5 14.1 10.4 9.4 9.7 32.3 24.6 17.7 16.3 16.6 4.2 6.8 24.3 11.2 20.2 37.0 10.4

.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

Taiwan Korea Philippines Mongolia Thailand Indonesia Singapore

Percentage %

Rejection of Specific Authoritarian Options, 2010-2011

We should get rid

• f parliament

and elections and have a strong leader decide things. Only one political party should be allowed to stand for election and hold office. The army (military) should come in to govern the country.

Percent Rejection of all Authoritarian options, 2005-2006

56 77 69 55 39 28

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Indonesia Korea Taiwan Thailand Philippines Mongolia

18.6 16.7 15.1 15.7 11.4 9.4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 2001 2005 2010

Percentage %

Trends in Support for Authoritarian Options in Taiwan

We should get rid of parliament and elections and have a strong leader decide things. Only one political party should be allowed to stand for election and hold

• ffice.

But what about Diffuse System Support?

General Pride in the System, not specific to democracy

Yun-han Chu’s Puzzle

• The Asian Barometer Survey Wave III applied

a five-item battery measuring diffuse regime support.

• Non-democratic regimes and hybrid regimes

enjoy much higher level of popular legitimacy than democratic regimes on virtually every indicator

• There is almost a reverse relationship

between a country’s level of democratic development and regime support.

25.9 37.4 32.6 33.8 49.0 76.0 36.3 2.7 2.5 11.2 12.6 32.6 16.4 50.2

.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Figure 2a: Regime Support (First Item)

"Thinking in general, I am proud of our system of

government "

strongly agree agree

Source: Asian Barometer Survey Wave III (2010~2011)

25.4 47.8 40.2 46.6 50.9 72.1 33.6 1.9 2.9 20.4 29.2 37.4 14.0 43.0

.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Figure 2b: Regime Support (Second Item) "A system like ours, even if it runs into problems, deserves the people's support"

strongly agree agree

Source: Asian Barometer Survey Wave III (2010~2011)

56.0 39.4 42.4 49.6 56.7 80.2 45.5 4.5 2.7 24.4 23.4 21.8 12.7 42.4

.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Figure 2c: Regime Support (Third Item)

"Over the long run, our system of government is

capable of solving the problems our country faces"

strongly agree agree

Source: Asian Barometer Survey Wave III (2010~2011)

43.5 7.1 31.9 31.9 50.5 54.2 43.1 2.7 4.8 5.5 4.4 29.2 38.5 35.3

.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Figure 2d: Regime Support (Fourth Item)

"Compared with other systems in the world, would you say our system of government works fine as it is, needs minor change, needs major change, or should be replaced? "

fine as it is needs minor change

Source: Asian Barometer Survey Wave III (2010~2011)

39.5 55.2 33.7 39.6 39.8 74.2 43.1 3.6 5.5 21.0 19.7 46.5 15.0 35.3

.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Figure 2e: Regime Support (Fifth Item) "I would rather live under our system of government than any that I can think of"

strongly agree agree

Source: Asian Barometer Survey Wave III (2010~2011)

• 0.23926

0.0575 0.1205 0.1921 1.0345 1.0191 1.1733

• 0.4
• 0.2

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4

Figure 3: Overall Level of Regime Legitimacy

Average Score of the Five-Item Battery (-2 ~ +2) country mean

Source: Asian Barometer Survey Wave III (2010~2011)

68.6 58.9 45.0 47.5 78.4 56.5 89.5 61.4 66.6 53.8 49.7 65.4 47.0 81.9

10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Taiwan Korea Philippines Mongolia Thailand Indonesia Singapore

Percentage

Satisfaction and Perception of Democracy, 2010-11

Satisfaction with Democracy Perceive full democracy or democracy with minor problems

47.9 56.5 68.6 50.2 61.4

40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 2001 2005 2010 Percentage % Time Period

Change in Satisfaction and Perception of Democracy in Taiwan 2001-2010 (Three waves of Asian Barometer)

Satisfaction Substantial Democracy(Perc eption of Democracy)

• 139. Women should not be involved in politics as much as men.
• 141. Government leaders are like the head of a family; we should all

follow their decisions.

• 142. The government should decide whether certain ideas should be

allowed to be discussed in society.

• 143. Harmony of the community will be disrupted if people organize lots
• f groups.
• 144. When judges decide important cases, they should accept the view of

the executive branch.

• 145. If the government is constantly checked [i.e. monitored and

supervised] by the legislature, it cannot possibly accomplish great things.

Liberal Democratic vs. Traditional Authoritarian Values (Disagree = Democratic)

42.0 55.0 49.0 60.0 65.0 60.2 71.5 72.1 25.0 36.0 38.0 49.0 43.0 34.0 37.3 43.5 45.0 57.0 53.0 60.0 57.0 53.7 56.9 60.2 37.0 47.0 38.0 47.0 43.0 24.7 34.2 38.9

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 2001 2005 2010

Percentage %

Trends in Democratic Attitudes in Taiwan

Disagree: The government should decide whether certain ideas should be allowed to be discussed in society. Disagree: Harmony of the community will be disrupted if people organize lots of groups. Disagree: When judges decide important cases, they should accept the view

• f the executive branch.

Disagree: If the government is constantly checked [i.e. monitored and supervised] by the legislature, it cannot possibly accomplish great things.

45.7 56.8 53.5 61.0 60.2 52.8 59.2 63.8

10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 2001 2005 2010

Percentage % Time Period

Trends in Democratic Attitudes in Taiwan

Mean of The Six Indicators

• f

Democratic Attitudes

Trust in Democratic Institutions

2010-2011 Asian Barometer III

40.9 31.2 29.7 16.2 15.5 14.1 19.5 19.8 19.1 52.0 52.5 48.3 33.0 25.2 22.0

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

2001 2005 2010

Percentage % Time Period

Change in Institutional Trust in Taiwan, 2001-2010

The Court Political Parties Parliament Civil Service Newspapers

40.9 31.2 29.7 35.7 35.3 33.2

52.0 52.5 48.3 33.0 25.2 22.0

10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0

2001 2005 2010

Percentage %

Trends in Institutional Trust

The Court Party and Parliament Civil Service Newspapers

Conclusion: Does Taiwan Have a Democratic Culture?

• No desire for any authoritarian option—

emphatic rejection of authoritarianism

• Substantial but uneven support for democracy
• Weak “diffuse system support”—people in

Taiwan are not universally and effusively “proud” of their system

• Growth of liberal values
• Relatively low trust in political institutions:

People in Taiwan are “skeptical democrats”