This is the third annual conference of the Taiwan Democracy Program, which is part of Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). The conference took stock of the last eight years of democracy in Taiwan under the Chen Shui-bian Administration and assessed Taiwan's progress toward democratic consolidation.

Agenda:

Day I

Morning Session--9:00 am-12:15 pm

Session I: Introduction

1. Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives on Democratic Consolidation
2. Polarized Politics, Quality of Governance and Support for Democracy in Taiwan: A View from Asian Barometer

Session II: The 2008 Elections

1. The Legislative Yuan Election Campaigns, Results and Implications
2. The Presidential Election Campaigns, Results and Implications

Afternoon Session--1:30 pm-5:15 pm

Session III: Partisan Alignments and Electoral System

1. Dynamics of Partisanship, National Identity, and Issue Cleavages in the DPP Era
2. The Democratic Progressive Party’s Clientelism: A Failed Political Action
3. Taiwan’s First Legislative Election under the Mixed-Member Majoritarian System: What Happened and What It Implies

Session IV: How well are Democratic Institutions Functioning?

1. Horizontal Accountability and Rule of Law in A Divided Polity: the Judicial and Control Yuan
2. Parliament and Executive-Legislative Relations
3. Constitutional and Institutional Reform

Day II

Morning Session--9:00 am-12:15 pm

Session V: Civil Society

1. Engaging the State: Civil Society and the Institutional Transformation of Democracy
2. Press Freedom, DPP Government and the Intellectuals

Session VI: Political Economy

1. Politics and Business under the DPP: Restructuring State-Business Institutional Relations in Taiwan
2. Inequality, Discontents, and the Popularization of “M-Shaped Society Conception in Taiwan

Afternoon Session--1:15 pm-4:30 pm

Session VII: Security and Democracy

1. Democracy and Cross-Straits Relations: A Case Study of the “Three-Links”
2. Security Apparatus and Depoliticization in Chen Shui-bian’s Era

Round Table Discussion

Is Taiwan's Democracy Consolidated?