The recent year-end supplementary election for the Legislative Yuan went off like clockwork, electing in all seventy-one new legislators. We are pleased to report that the majority of candidates conducted their campaigns well within the limits of the newly revised Election Law and brought a healthy outlook, scientific techniques, and a reasonable attitude to their campaign activities. Moreover, the country's electorate, having received more than forty such lessons in democracy over the past thirty years, exhibited a high degree of discernment and wisdom in casting their ballots. Although the majority of those elected were the anticipated victors, some of the candidates in last year's election were surprise losers. The underlying significance of the final vote count deserves careful scrutiny.

Ever since the government moved to Taiwan, it has endeavored to promote progress in all spheres: in addition to improvements in the economic, education, defense, and communications/transportation sectors, a high premium has been placed on political development. In the spirit of safeguarding our system of constitutional government, the current administration has vigorously promoted local government, managed national elections, and instituted political reforms in its attempt to build a liberal and economically equal society. In this context, elections constitute the most tangible manifestation of democracy for the greater portion of our citizens.

In order to ensure adequate representation for Taiwan's rapidly expanding population and to compensate for the passing of life-term representatives, supplementary elections began to be held in Taiwan in 1972. Since their implementation, the expectations of our country's citizens vis-a-vis their elected representatives have changed significantly: instead of simply providing passive support for the system of constitutional government, elected officials are increasingly expected to press for new reforms, strengthen the efficacy of nationally elected representatives in formulating government policy, advance the cause of political construction, and work for the continuous development of the nation. This trend has been reinforced by advances in both the overall intellectual level and the standard of living of the electorate.

The experience of past elections has clearly indicated the need for a fair and objective set of campaign regulations so as to avoid meaningless disputes and ensure that the electoral process accords with the rule of law. Thus, in an effort to standardize campaign activities throughout the country, the Legislative Yuan, after extensive consultation with other government agencies and experts and a thorough review of past experience and current needs, in 1980 promulgated a revised Election Law. Various elections held between 1980 and 1982 provided a testing ground for the new law and served to indicate where further revisions might be necessary. The Central Election Committee studied the law's remaining shortcomings as revealed by these elections and in 1982 submitted its suggestions for additional modifications to the Legislative Yuan for consideration. The Legislative Yuan passed a new version of the Election Law in mid-1982, and the newest revisions were tested for the first time in our most recent election.

The changes brought about by the revised Election Law were readily apparent to the electorate. For example, campaign activities designed to play upon the emotions of the people or which would disturb the peace and order of our lives were expressly discouraged. The arrangement of political forums was also changed. Formerly, privately managed campaign forums were permitted after the publicly sponsored ones; in this election, the order was reversed so that candidates without the financial means to sponsor a large number of public speeches would have ample opportunity to air their views during the period closest to the actual election date. This new ordering of private and public forums also had the advantage of allowing the electorate to hear and compare the candidates' views in a well-ordered, reasonable, and dispassionate setting. As Minister of the Interior Lin Yang-kang noted: "An election is not a fanfare nor does it have to be noisy; a heated and inflammatory election atmosphere in no way helps the electorate to make their choices in an intelligent, discerning, and rational manner."

Outside of these very obvious changes, yet another unique feature of the recent election was the high degree of tolerance shown by the government and society at large for dissenting political opinions. The non-Kuomintang (tangwai) political leaders organized both a "support group" and a "popular advisory committee," which not only promoted candidates but also helped support campaign activities. Some people at first thought that these organizations were inappropriate and regarded them with suspicion; but Lin Yang-kang expressed the government's enlightened attitude on this issue: "These are only temporary organizations; as long as there are no illegal activities associated with their convening, the government will not ask them to disband." The attitude of the Central Election Committee, which screens the political platforms of all candidates, was just as open-minded: with the exception of the Taiwan independence issue, all of the other opposition opinions-- including views on the abolition of martial law, the removal of restrictions on political parties, and restrictions on the press--were permitted to be discussed openly during the campaign period.

Within the fifteen-day campaign period specified by law, candidates spared no effort to promote themselves in the fierce competition for votes, in many cases employing the services of specialized propaganda firms to coordinate their campaign materials and activities. There was a general feeling among the candidates that, in comparison to past elections, both the content of the candidates' political platforms and the level of sophistication of the electorate in this election had made great strides. Almost every candidate voiced a similar sentiment: "The mood of those attending the publicly sponsored political forums appears to be increasingly detached and their judgment increasingly acute; this compels us both to stress the substance of our political positions and to establish clear priorities for the issues." Nowhere is the changed character of the electorate more apparent than in the culturally rich city of Taipei, as tangwai candidate Kang Ning-hsiang, himself a veteran of three previous elections, remarked: "Ten years ago very few people brought their families along to hear political speeches; now, not only do these people participate, but the proportion of intellectuals attending the forums has increased dramatically. If the candidates simply use the inflammatory campaign tactics of the past, the support they receive will naturally not amount to very much."

On Election Day, 3 December 1983, early morning saw long lines already forming in front of the polling places. Compared with previous elections, the number of polling places this time around was much greater, and the stations themselves were more conveniently located. After the polls closed, people were welcome to witness the vote tabulating procedures. The day before the election, a television broadcast introduced voting procedures and the regulations of the Central Election Committee to the voters; the program urged viewers who spotted any irregularities in the process to report them immediately. In addition, the Election Law allowed candidates to select their own observers and freely assign them to the various polling stations. Moreover, all three national television stations carried live broadcasts of the vote tabulation procedure. The openness of the entire process helped to earn the confidence of both the candidates and the voters.

After the results had been tabulated, it was estimated that some 63.17 percent of the country's eligible voters had participated in the election. Of the seventy-one new legislators, sixty-two are Kuomintang members and nine are tangwai. The average age of the newly elected representatives is 44.4 years; the group as a whole is thus not only younger than successful candidates in previous elections, but statistics show they are better educated as well.

In discussing the significance of the outcome of the election, China Times Weekly's Managing Supervisor P'eng Huai-en observed: "This election will leave an indelible mark on the history of our country's political development. Future historians will note that: 'The ruling Kuomintang in this election adopted a pluralistic nominating policy and stable, moderate, reform-minded attitudes; this strategy enabled the party to mobilize the country's stability-seeking "silent majority" in a unified and systematic fashion and thereby obtain a glorious victory. Correspondingly, because of the lack of a clear political direction and internal disputes among its leading proponents, the influence of the tangwai faction, which had been increasing in recent years, suffered its worst setback in thirty years; many of the movement's leaders were resoundingly defeated.'"

The strategy of the Kuomintang in this year's election focused largely on the process of nominating candidates and on mobilizing support for the party's weaker candidates. In the past, many party members, because they did not participate directly in the nomination of candidates, often felt removed from the nominees, and this had a bearing on their willingness to support the party's chosen ones. This year, as the nominating process was just getting underway, Kuomintang party cadres in Taipei organized a "straw ballot" to assess the popularity of the fifty-one possible candidates with party members in the district. This helped the party to choose the strongest candidates for the actual election. The party also paid particular attention to its traditionally effete campaign literature, turning over the coordination and management of printed materials to a firm specializing in such matters. Moreover, the Kuomintang was especially successful in determining which of its candidates were weakest and mobilizing additional support for them. Yet strategy was certainly not the only factor working in favor of the Kuomintang candidates. As Election Committee member Ch'en Chun-shan observed: "This was definitely not a victory based on strategy alone. . . . The results of this election are clearly an affirmation of the people's support for the administrative achievements of the present government."

The high proportion of successful Kuomintang candidates caused the number of seats occupied by tangwai proponents in the Legislative Yuan to fall from eleven to nine. According to Ch'en Chun-shan, "The tangwai candidates defeated themselves in this election." As policy advisor to the President T'ao Pai- ch'uan explains: "The defeat of the tangwai was due to the fact that their campaign methods and political views still do not tally with the views of the electorate."

In terms of campaign strategy, the rhetoric of the tangwai candidates did not keep pace with the changing character of the voters. Most of these candidates' speeches were filled with personal attacks on their opponents, scornful and inflammatory language, and antigovernment slogans. This kind of campaigning unavoidably drove the electorate to doubt these candidates' ability to engage profitably in the democratic process--after all, the spirit of democracy consists in tolerant, respectful, and rational debate; it is not best served by people who cannot differentiate right from wrong and who engage in opposition simply for the sake of opposing.

[Picture Caption]

1. President Chiang Ching-kuo and his wife went cheerfully to their assigned polling station to cast their votes. 2.3. During the campaign period, candidates went all out in developing their campaign activities. Lin Yu-hsiang greeting the electorate from his "propaganda vehicle" (2); Li Chih-p'eng pays a visit to a cafeteria to drum up votes.

Left: Some candidates supplied sign-language translation at the political forums to get their message across to deaf voters. Right: Every candidate's campaign office was impressively decorated.

A special feature of the recent election was the emphasis on campaign literature and posters. Left: A voter pores carefully over literature distributed by various candidates. Right: The specialists employed by Taipei's Kuomintang candidates produced a series of sensitive and intelligent posters.

Left: Voters attending a political forum. Right: Workers at a polling station help an infirm old man cast his vote.

1. Premier Sun Yun-suan and Vice Premier Ch'iu Ch'uang-huan observed the vote counting process and awaited the final results. 2.3. The vote tabulation center was completely computerized to ensure speed and accuracy.

2.3. During the campaign period, candidates went all out in developing their campaign activities. Lin Yu-hsiang greeting the electorate from his "propaganda vehicle".

Left: Some candidates supplied sign-language translation at the political forums to get their message across to deaf voters.

Right: Every candidate's campaign office was impressively decorated.

A special feature of the recent election was the emphasis on campaign literature and posters. Left: A voter pores carefully over literature distributed by various candidates.

Left: Voters attending a political forum.

Right: Workers at a polling station help an infirm old man cast his vote.