DPP must emphasize the party's core values

In September 1999, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) held an international symposium on political parties in transition. Participants included representatives from Europe's social democratic parties and the US' Democratic Party. They offered some interesting observations on the DPP.

Luciano Vecchi, a member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), said that although combating corruption was important, it was also dangerous because voters tend to hold you to higher standards. In Italy, there had been a bribery scandal involving just a handful of PSI members, but the party paid a heavy price in national elections the following year. The governing DPP is now faced with a similar predicament.

Karl Petter Thorwaldsson of the Swedish Social Democratic Party noted that the DPP hardly talked about "values." The Swedish social democrats spent an entire year discussing whether "freedom" or "equality" was the more important value, in the end concluding that freedom cannot be achieved without equality and then basing its policies on that conclusion. That is why the social democrats retain the support of most Swedish workers.

The problem plaguing the DPP does not lie in whether the party is corrupt or not, but rather in its lack of a governing philosophy. When supporters are unaware of what differentiates the DPP from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) when it comes to economics, social policy, cultural thinking and educational ideals, then clean governance is the only distinction and a single straw can break the camel's back.

From my observations the DPP's values are indeed different from the KMT's. During the dangwai era, Taiwanese democracy activists formulated ideals of democracy, environmental protection and social justice. In opposition, the DPP pushed for democratization, encouraged the participation of women in politics, the implementation of universal health insurance and the application of the Labor Standards Law (勞工基本法) for white-collar employees.

Since coming to power, it has sought to reform the financial sector and eliminate the frequent bank runs of the past, and it has established a social welfare system encompassing employment insurance and a pension program. These achievements, however, have not been converted into a clear and consistent system of DPP values. As a result, there are a lot of confusing values in government policies, such as the policy to upgrade Taiwanese industry or the policy toward foreign workers.

Successful leaders are well aware of leadership values. Former US president Ronald Reagan spent an awful lot of time giving speeches about what seemed to be trivial matters during his presidency, but he successfully conveyed the idea of supply-side economics. That is also why former US president Bill Clinton repeatedly stressed the importance of the new economy and why British Prime Minister Tony Blair keeps talking about the "Third Way." They all know how to build faith through ideas and turn that faith into strength.

However, the DPP's philosophy is so limited, the speeches of its top leaders contain too many details but lack ideas. As a result, they fail to generate faith and strength.

Think about it: Given a couple of decades, will China even be able to match a democratic society like Taiwan, with its health insurance and pension programs. These are the foundation on which to consolidate a Taiwanese consciousness and I also believe that this would provide President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁)and the DPP with the strength to start anew.

Liu Chin-hsin is a professor in the department of chemical engineering at the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.

Translated by Daniel Cheng