Following the setbacks suffered by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in last month’s local elections, the party and the government have been reviewing and analyzing what happened. It is difficult to say whether it has unearthed the real reasons for its election losses, but President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has been showing signs of greater flexibility and getting in touch with people at the grassroots level.
For example, a policy that would have required motorcycles built before next year to be equipped with anti-lock braking systems (ABS) or combined braking systems by 2021 was last week temporarily halted out of concern for the heavy financial burden it would place on the public.
In another example, a measure to give drivers toll-free access to freeways over the four-day New Year’s holiday was extended so that drivers would not take to the road all at the same time and cause traffic jams.
The policies were originally set in stone for the sake of safety and the user-pays principle, but they have been reversed or greatly relaxed in view of people’s needs and the financial burden that they would impose on the public.
It appears that the DPP’s election losses have prompted government officials, who had been promoting certain policies under the banner of progress, to climb down from the clouds and mingle with mere mortals.
Policy formation must prioritize the public’s needs.
However, while raising the banner of progressive demands, the right way, and indeed the only way, to take reforms forward is by pragmatic means that bridge the gap between ideals and reality.
Some voters used their ballots to teach Tsai a lesson, not because she lacks vision for governing the nation, but because she has too many progressive ideals presented in a noble way that is far too removed from real life. What is desirable is not always attainable.
As a result, most people feel no personal connection with the government’s proposed reforms, which they perceive as having nothing to do with their interests.
It is not surprising that such an atmosphere of governance has made the DPP the butt of widespread criticism.
The worst outcome for the DPP is that its failure to find practical ways to implement reforms has alienated various social forces that used to support it.
Consequently, whenever it faces strong resistance, it finds itself surrounded by foes, with no one to come to its rescue. This has resulted in some reforms being abandoned half way, ending up as failed experiments.
The government’s latest policy interventions indicate that the DPP has been reviewing its ways.
However, although the party can win more support from voters by starting out from the public’s point of view, the correct answers about how to ensure the public’s interests and well-being can only be found through expert advice and reasoning. Opinions voiced online or within one’s comfort zone do not necessarily reflect what is best for the majority of the public.
The low popularity ratings that Tsai’s administration has been suffering since it took office do not necessarily result from wrong policies. Sometimes the problem is that the Cabinet gets intimidated by the volume of illusory public opinion, and lacks the courage to uphold its correct opinions and argue in favor if its policies.
This makes it easier for members of the public to be misled by commentators, while the government is unfairly labeled as incapable and distant from public opinion.
Failure in governance is generally not because reforms are headed in the wrong direction, but because “hipster-style” governance lacks a strong professional foundation and officials end up making empty promises. They are like flashy martial artists whose fancy footwork is useless in a real fight. Their failure to properly explain their policies to the public makes them big losers in the war of public opinion.
They then find themselves in a bind similar to the fable of the father, his son and his donkey, where the father makes various decisions after being scolded by passers by and eventually cannot decide anything at all.
The most typical examples are the referendums about banning food imports from Japanese regions affected by the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster, opposition to air pollution and continuing to use nuclear power while developing green energy.
The referendum proposals were full of misinformation and lacking in expert and scientific perspectives, which allowed them to be manipulated for populist ends.
The government could have spoken out boldly and determinedly in defense of its policy orientations, but for some reason it was afraid to fight and instead stayed quiet. As a result, the referendum proposals were in effect forced through under the guidance of the opposition party.
Post-election discussions have mostly focused on technical matters, such as whether the referendums should not have been held alongside nationwide elections, how to prevent fraud in referendum signature drives and whether new legislation should be drawn up to more severely punish those who spread false information.
What the discussions overlook is the principle that the best defense is a good offense. The government should have taken the initiative to counter its opponents and clarify the issues. It should have taken full advantage of its right to speak and fought for the strategic high ground on online platforms to explain its policies. That was the only way it could have prevented its losses.
Take, for example, the government’s sudden about-turn on its policy of requiring motorcycles to be equipped with ABS. Such a measure has already been implemented in the EU and Japan, where scientific research has shown that ABS can decrease a person’s chances of death and injury in traffic accidents by 30 percent. To protect scooter riders’ lives and safety, the right thing to do in the long term would be to follow in the footsteps of these advanced countries.
As for the heavy financial burden that such a policy would place on the public, the government could consider providing subsidies to lighten the burden on financially disadvantaged scooter owners.
Such comprehensive policymaking, along with strong arguments in favor of government policies, could create an opportunity for the Tsai administration to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Otherwise, no matter how good its policies might be, if the government compromises, submits and reverses its policies whenever it encounters opposition, it is likely to end up like the father in the fable, who seems to be wrong whatever he does.
Following the elections, the Tsai administration has been considering drawing up a law to severely punish people who spread false information, in the hope of deterring people spreading misinformation online, leading to unfair competition.
With regards to renewed deliberation on the Referendum Act (公民投票法), the emphasis should be on how to prevent referendums from becoming arenas for populist mobilization and confrontation.
As for making further amendments to the Labor Standards Act (勞動基準法), the most important thing is to open up space for flexible adjustments in business management, with highly paid white-collar employees working under a responsibility system.
In all these matters, the government must display a completely different style of governance from what it has done until now by insisting on doing the right things in the right ways, while having the will and determination to defend its policy concepts.
This might cause temporary resentment among sectors of the public whose interests are temporarily harmed, but it should be possible to persuade those groups by demonstrating rationality, expertise and overall policy concerns.
Such people might even be persuaded to join the ranks of the reformers, making it much easier for the policies to succeed.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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