This thesis examines the role and impact of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party upon the constitutional reforms of 1991 to 2005 with a view to asking to what extent these reforms either strengthened or weakened the Taiwanese sovereignty the party aspired to establish and consolidate within a wholly Taiwanese national polity. The party’s ability to influence the course of reforms are placed in the broader context of ROC constitutional history and foreign influence upon the status of Taiwan. The research focuses on the party’s linking of the ROC constitution and question of Taiwanese sovereignty, and the negotiated choices it made both during the period of democratisation in Taiwan and when it was in power. This thesis will argue that the need to enact significant institutional change and meet electoral goals whilst lacking a clear legislative majority largely constrained the DPP's ability to achieve substantive rather than symbolic reform. The ROC constitution remains in force and, though amended, it signifies to the world that Taiwan is officially a Chinese nation whose sovereignty belongs to the ROC state. Yet, in practice, Taiwanese also exercise a popular and practical national democratic sovereignty and a clear de facto independence of national self-determination. That the KMT and DPP both used the reform of the apparatus of the ROC state to advance the building of their respective visions of what nation Taiwan would be, has led to the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty ultimately remaining unresolved and her independence insecure. The DPP's role in the constitutional reform process was a major contributor to this outcome. / This thesis examines the role and impact of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party upon the constitutional reforms of 1991 to 2005 with a view to asking to what extent these reforms either strengthened or weakened the Taiwanese sovereignty the party aspired to establish and consolidate within a wholly Taiwanese national polity. The party’s ability to influence the course of reforms are placed in the broader context of ROC constitutional history and foreign influence upon the status of Taiwan. The research focuses on the party’s linking of the ROC constitution and question of Taiwanese sovereignty, and the negotiated choices it made both during the period of democratisation in Taiwan and when it was in power. This thesis will argue that the need to enact significant institutional change and meet electoral goals whilst lacking a clear legislative majority largely constrained the DPP's ability to achieve substantive rather than symbolic reform. The ROC constitution remains in force and, though amended, it signifies to the world that Taiwan is officially a Chinese nation whose sovereignty belongs to the ROC state. Yet, in practice, Taiwanese also exercise a popular and practical national democratic sovereignty and a clear de facto independence of national self-determination. That the KMT and DPP both used the reform of the apparatus of the ROC state to advance the building of their respective visions of what nation Taiwan would be, has led to the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty ultimately remaining unresolved and her independence insecure. The DPP's role in the constitutional reform process was a major contributor to this outcome.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CHENGCHI/G0096924019 |
| Creators | 班高仁, Ben,Goren |
| Publisher | 國立政治大學 |
| Source Sets | National Chengchi University Libraries |
| Language | 英文 |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Rights | Copyright © nccu library on behalf of the copyright holders |
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