The uproar over the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四)prompted two major anti-nuclear protests -- first on Nov. 12 of last year and again last Saturday. The protests have given rise to a feeling that things are now back to square one. In fact, many who supported Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in last year's presidential election have been disappointed by his government's inability to make acceptable reforms.
But the "100-day commotion" over the plant and the opposition alliance's heavy-handed voting has also given rise to doubts about representative democracy. Only now have we realized why Western democracies still need to formulate various kinds of public referendum laws in order to make up for the deficiencies of representative democracy. In other words, if we are to get close to the lofty ideal of self-determination, then we must have a system to prevent politicians -- who are mere representatives of the public -- from overstepping their authority and robbing the people of their right to voice their opinions on major public policies and to participate in policy-making.
In a mature civil society, politics is everyone's business and should not be monopolized by a small elite. Grassroots democracy, therefore, carries more legitimacy, especially when it comes to issues involving environmental risks. Western countries are inclining more and more toward public referendums as a basis for policies, in order to prevent a very small number of public representatives from deciding on values and options on behalf of the entire society.
In Taiwan, many legislators have reacted strongly to demands for a referendum on the plant. They have tried to paint public referendums almost as monsters and catastrophes. Those legislators should ask themselves what reasons they have for opposing a referendum.
It was through ballots that the public authorized them to decide on national affairs in the legislature for a limited period. So, when the public find themselves unable to trust its representatives and therefore take an interest in important matters that directly affect their welfare, what reasons do these representatives have to object? As to those self-proclaimed experts who love to put a populist dunce's cap on people, and are arrogant and contemptuous of the public's judgment, believing that only experts are qualified to make decisions on major policies, I would like to ask: Which one of the legislators passed for an expert when they voted on the plant issue? Those lawmakers who followed the will of their parties probably knew far less about the plant than most of the people who took to the streets on Feb. 24.
Instead of having a bunch of ignorant legislators making policies, why can't we give every citizen the right to decide and let them share responsibility for the decision?
After the turmoil Taiwan has gone through since the transition of political power, the people do not need to harbor any more illusions about political figures. A way out of the current impasse lies less in a thorough overhaul of the Constitution than in a public awakening to the need to strengthen citizens' participation in politics. Public referendums are but one measure to ensure this. What's more, civil rights are certainly not limited to the right to vote or be elected.
Citizens have every right to have adequate information on public matters and to participate in decision-making. Only when they do so can we restrain public representatives from overstepping their authority and prevent power from becoming a tool for political extortion. If the row over the plant can result in the above-mentioned political awakening, then we will not have gone through these several months of turmoil in vain.
Ku Chung-hwa is a professor of sociology at National Cheng-chi University.
Translated by Francis Huang
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