Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T12:36:52.637Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Personal votes, electoral competitiveness of parties, and legislative representation in Taiwan under SNTV

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2018

Jinhyeok Jang  and
Nick C. N. Lin
Jinhyeok Jang
Affiliation:
National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Nick C. N. Lin*
Affiliation:
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: nicklin@uni-mannheim.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We advance the literature on electoral institutions and legislative representation by investigating legislators’ position taking strategies in Taiwan under the single non-transferable voting period. Existing research largely assumes that representatives elected from the same electoral rule behave similarly. We challenge this conventional understanding by arguing that legislators in multi-member districts (MMDs) tend to move toward the extreme direction from the party line if they come from districts where their party is less competitive. This pattern of legislative representation allows them to appeal to partisan voters, as lowering one's partisan profile can be too costly in such districts. On the contrary, those who are elected from strong partisan districts are expected to deviate from the party toward the moderate direction. Given a solid partisan foundation in these districts, these legislators may target voters across party lines. Our analysis covering the entire period of MMD elections after Taiwan's democratization (1992–2008) provides robust empirical evidence to our theoretical claim. Our findings, therefore, shed lights for future studies on the intertwining nature between electoral systems, district level factors, and legislative representation.

Keywords

Personal votelegislative representationelectoral competitionSNTVTaiwan
Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , March 2019 , pp. 21 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achen, CH and Wang, T-Y (2017) The Taiwan Voter. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Aldrich, JH (1995) Why Parties?: The Origin and Transformation of Party Politics in America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ames, B (1995) Electoral strategy under open-list proportional representation. American Journal of Political Science 39, 406–433.Google Scholar
Akirav, Osnat, Cox, GW and McCubbins, MD (2010) Agenda control in the Israeli knesset during ariel Sharon's second government. The Journal of Legislative Studies 16, 251–267.Google Scholar
Amorim Neto, Octavio, Cox, GW and McCubbins, MD (2003) “Agenda power in Brazil's Câmara Dos Deputados, 1989-98. World Politics 55, 550–578.Google Scholar
André, A and Depauw, S (2014) District magnitude and the personal vote. Electoral Studies 35, 102–114.Google Scholar
Batto, NF (2008) Strategic defection from strong candidates in the 2004 Taiwanese legislative election. Japanese Journal of Political Science 9, 21–38.Google Scholar
Batto, NF (2009) Change and continuity in the personal vote after electoral reform in Taiwan. Issues and Studies 45, 99–123.Google Scholar
Batto, NF (2012) Differing mandates and party loyalty in mixed-member systems: Taiwan as a baseline case. Electoral Studies 31, 384–392.Google Scholar
Bertelli, A and Richardson, LE Jr. (2008) Ideological extremism and electoral design: multimember versus single member districts. Public Choice 137, 347–368.Google Scholar
Bräuninger, T, Brunner, M and Däubler, T (2012) Personal vote-seeking in flexible list systems: how electoral incentives shape Belgian MPs’ bill initiation behaviour. European Journal of Political Research 51, 607–645.Google Scholar
Cain, BE, Ferejohn, JA and Fiorina, MP (1987) The Personal Vote: Constituency Service and Electoral Independence. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Carey, JM (2007) Competing principals, political institutions, and party unity in legislative voting. American Journal of Political Science 51, 92–107.Google Scholar
Carey, JM (2009) Legislative Voting and Accountability. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Carey, JM and Shugart, MS (1995) Incentives to cultivate a personal vote: a rank ordering of electoral formulas. Electoral Studies 14, 417–439.Google Scholar
Chandler, WM, Cox, GW and McCubbins, MD (2006) Agenda control in the Bundestag, 1980–2002. German Politics 15, 27–48.Google Scholar
Clinton, JD, Jackman, S and Rivers, D (2004 a) The statistical analysis of roll call data. American Political Science Review 98, 355–370.Google Scholar
Clinton, JD, Jackman, S and Rivers, D (2004 b) “The most liberal senator”? analyzing and interpreting congressional roll calls. PS: Political Science & Politics 37, 805–811.Google Scholar
Colomer, JM (2013) Personal Representation. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Coman, E (2017) Dimensions of political conflict in west and east: an application of vote scaling to 22 European parliaments. Party Politics 23, 248–261.Google Scholar
Cox, GW (1996) Is the single nontransferable vote superproportional? Evidence from Japan and Taiwan. American Journal of Political Science 40, 740–755.Google Scholar
Cox, GW (1997) Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cox, GW and Niou, E (1994) Seat bonuses under the single non-transferable vote system: evidence from Japan and Taiwan. Comparative Politics 26, 221–236.Google Scholar
Cox, GW and McCubbins, MD (1993) Legislative Leviathan: Party Government in the House. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Cox, GW and Thies, MF (1998) The cost of intraparty competition: the single, nontransferable vote and money politics in Japan. Comparative Political Studies 31, 267–291.Google Scholar
Cox, GW, Masuyama, Mikitaka and McCubbins, MD (2000) Agenda power in the Japanese house of representatives. Japanese Journal of Political Science 1, 1–21.Google Scholar
Cox, GW and McCubbins, MD (2005) Setting the Agenda: responsible Party Government in the US House of Representatives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Crisp, BF, Escobar-Lemmon, MC, Jones, BS, Jones, MP and Taylor-Robinson, MM (2004) Vote-Seeking incentives and legislative representation in Six presidential democracies. Journal of Politics 66, 823–846.Google Scholar
Depauw, S and Martin, S (2009) Legislative party discipline and cohesion in comparative perspective. In Giannetti, D and Benoit, K (eds), Intra-Party Politics and Coalition Governments. London: Routledge, 2008, pp. 103–120.Google Scholar
Ellis, C (2013) Social context and economic biases in representation. The Journal of Politics 75, 773–786.Google Scholar
Enelow, JM and Hinich, MJ (1984) The Spatial Theory of Voting: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fell, D (2005) Party Politics in Taiwan: Party Change and the Democratic Evolution of Taiwan, 1991–2004. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fell, D (2018) Government and Politics in Taiwan, 2nd Edn. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fenno, RF (1978) Home Style: House Members in Their Districts. Boston: Little, Brown Boston.Google Scholar
Ferrara, F, Herron, ES and Nishikawa, Misa (2005) Mixed Electoral Systems: Contamination and Its Consequences. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Griffin, JD and Newman, B (2005) Are voters better represented? The Journal of Politics 67, 1206–1227.Google Scholar
Grofman, B, Lee, S-C, Winckler, EA and Woodall, B (1999) Elections in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan Under the Single Non-Transferable Vote. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Harbridge, L and Malhotra, N (2011) Electoral incentives and partisan conflict in congress: evidence from survey experiments. American Journal of Political Science 55, 494–510.Google Scholar
Hayama, Akira (1992) Incumbency advantage in Japanese elections. Electoral Studies 11, 46–57.Google Scholar
Hibbing, JR and Theiss-Morse, E (2002) Stealth Democracy: Americans’ Beliefs about How Government Should Work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hix, S (2004) Electoral institutions and legislative behavior. World Politics 56, 194–223.Google Scholar
Hix, S and Noury, A (2015) Government-opposition or left-right? The institutional determinants of voting in legislatures. Political Science Research and Methods 4, 249–273.Google Scholar
Hsieh, JF-s (2008) Democracy in a mildly divided society. In Paolino, P and Meernik, J (eds), Democratization in Taiwan: Challenges and Transformation. London: Routledge, pp. 29–42.Google Scholar
Hsu, Y-M and Lin, C-P (2009) Reexamining “southern politics” in Taiwan. Electoral Studies (Chinese Ver.) 16, 1–35 [In Chinese].Google Scholar
Huang, C (2005) Dimensions of Taiwanese/Chinese identity and national identity in Taiwan: a latent class analysis. Journal of Asian and African Studies 40, 51–70.Google Scholar
Johnson, JW and Hoyo, Verónica (2012) Beyond personal vote incentives: dividing the vote in preferential electoral systems. Electoral Studies 31, 131–142.Google Scholar
Jones, MP and Hwang, W (2005) Party government in presidential democracies: extending cartel theory beyond the U.S. congress. American Journal of Political Science 49, 267–282.Google Scholar
Jones, MP, Hwang, W and Micozzi, JP (2009) Government and opposition in the Argentine congress, 1989–2007: understanding inter-party dynamics through roll call vote analysis. Journal of Politics in Latin America 1, 67–96.Google Scholar
Jun, H-W and Hix, S (2010) Electoral systems, political career paths and legislative behavior: evidence from south Korea's mixed-member system. Japanese Journal of Political Science 11, 153–171.Google Scholar
Karvonen, L, Atmor, N, Carey, JM, Enten, HJ, Hazan, RY, Lutz, G, Margetts, H, Marsh, M, Massicotte, L and Rahat, G (2011), Personal Representation: The Neglected Dimension of Electoral Systems. Colchester: ECPR Press.Google Scholar
Kirkland, JH (2012) Multimember districts’ effect on collaboration between U.S. State legislators. Legislative Studies Quarterly 37, 329–353.Google Scholar
Lee, P-S and Hsu, Y-M (2002) Southern politics? Regional trajectories of party development in Taiwan. Issues & Studies 38, 61–84.Google Scholar
Lundberg, TC (2007) Proportional Representation and the Constituency Role in Britain. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mayhew, DR (1974) Congress: The Electoral Connection. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
McCubbins, MD and Rosenbluth, FM (1995) Party provision for personal politics: dividing the votes in Japan. In Cowhey, P and McCubbins, MD (eds), Structure and Policy in Japan and the United States. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 35–55.Google Scholar
Miller, WE (1999) Policy Representation in Western Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Morgenstern, S (2004) Patterns of Legislative Politics: Roll-Call Voting in Latin America and the United States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Morgenstern, S and Nacif, B (2002) Legislative Politics in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Moser, RG and Scheiner, E (2012) Electoral Systems and Political Context: How the Effects of Rules Vary Across New and Established Democracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Pitkin, HF (1967) The Concept of Representation. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Poole, KT and Rosenthal, H (1997) Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Reed, SR (1994) The incumbency advantage in Japan. In Somit, A, Wildenmann, R and Boll, B (eds), The Victorious Incumbent: A Threat to Democracy? Brookfield, VT: Dartmouth Publishing Company, pp. 278–303.Google Scholar
Rich, TS (2014) Party voting cohesion in mixed member legislative systems: evidence from Korea and Taiwan. Legislative Studies Quarterly 39, 113–135.Google Scholar
Rohde, DW (1991) Parties and Leaders in the Postreform House. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Samuels, DJ (1999) Incentives to cultivate a party vote in candidate-centric electoral systems: evidence from Brazil. Comparative Political Studies 32, 487–518.Google Scholar
Shugart, MS and Wattenberg, MP (2001) Mixed-Member Electoral Systems: The Best of Both Worlds? Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shugart, MS, Valdini, ME and Suominen, K (2005) Looking for locals: voter information demands and personal vote-earning attributes of legislators under proportional representation. American Journal of Political Science 49, 437–449.Google Scholar
Sieberer, U (2006) Party unity in parliamentary democracies: a comparative analysis. The Journal of Legislative Studies 12, 150–178.Google Scholar
Swindle, SM (2002) The supply and demand of the personal vote theoretical considerations and empirical implications of collective electoral incentives. Party Politics 8, 279–300.Google Scholar
Tsai, C-H (2005) Policy-Making, local factions and candidate coordination in single Non-transferable voting. Party Politics 11, 59–77.Google Scholar