Is James Soong's ability to personally overshadow both the KMT and DPP a positive development for democracy in Taiwan?
The jury is still out on this question.
Political parties in the West have generally served to both forge and consolidate democratic political systems.
Political theorists such as Mainwaring, Pennock, Mayo and Dahl all believe that party politics is the soil in which democracy can take root.
Parties mold the way in which the public participates in politics, and voters' beliefs and attitudes develop alongside that of parties.
The system of political parties is a common characteristic and indeed an index of democratic nations.
Lipset has pointed out that a stable political democracy depends on long-term popular support and the existence of more than just a single ruling party.
Parties must offer voters different choices, and must compete with and supervise each other.
The decline of the New Party is due to the fact that it does not have a large, stable base of supporters (its supporters often flip-flop between supporting KMT and New Party candidates), and also because it lacks the ability to put forth policies substantially different from those of the ruling party.
If there are problems in the workings of political parties, then how will this affect the quality of democracy within the nation?
Research by scholars shows that the decline of political parties in India is related to the quality of democracy there, while similar problems exist in Latin America.
Comparative research of Italy, Portugal, Greece and Spain also shows that political interaction between the public and the political parties can help bring about a healthy democracy, even though democracy as a system does not have deep roots in those societies.
Taiwan cannot afford to miss this lesson on the importance of political parties to democracy.
There are serious problems in all the political parties in Taiwan, and recently many influential, independent figures have emerged who work outside the existing party framework.
This makes it difficult for Taiwan's budding democracy to take root.
James Soong should give serious consideration to the possibility of forming a party, regardless of whether he wins the presidential election or not.
This would be a positive development for democracy in Taiwan.
If politics continues to be dominated by powerful individuals working outside the party structure, it will weaken the foundation of all parties, and by extension, the foundation of democracy in Taiwan.
If Soong does decide to form a party, however, he must do away with the Leninist party organization of the KMT and raise substantial issues to avoid the fate of the New Party.
A new political party with strong roots among the public would help to consolidate Taiwan's democratic system, and do away with the backward, strongman politics so prevalent in Asia.
Pu Ta-chung (
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