Recollections:

Democracy needs busybodies

Before becoming mayor, Liu Yu-yu was active in the movement to preserve the Losheng Sanatorium, campaigned against the construction of wind turbines close to homes in Yuanli, and was a “returned youth” (a young person returning to live and work in their rural hometown). She was also one of the founders of the local independent bookstore Hi Home.

Taking part in social movements, she has encountered people of many different backgrounds and points of view. Everyone has their own ideas about public affairs, and as a result, in her view, the most difficult thing about democracy is not taking votes to determine winners and losers, but rather how to constantly communicate to build a consensus that everyone can accept.

Liu likens involvement in public affairs to a hook, for when you are “hooked” you will be more willing to learn and participate. Only then will you discover that democracy is more than majority rule, but is about how to enable more diverse voices in society to be heard.

All of this requires people who are willing to ask questions and get involved. Therefore, she concludes with a laugh: “Democracy needs busybodies.”

Liu Yu-yu shows a model of the reconstructed Yuanli Market. The original century-old market was devastated by fire in 2018 and reconstruction was delayed for several years. The job was finally completed after Liu was elected mayor in 2022. The venue is expected to open in September of 2026.

From street activism into the system

In 2018 a fire swept through Yuanli’s century-old market, and delays in reconstruction stirred public frustration. Seeing the town remain at a standstill, Liu decided to run for office.

Liu made the transition from street activism to working within the political system when she was elected as Yuanli’s mayor in 2022. Putting her beliefs into practice, she has acted as a bridge for building trust and dialogue between the government and ­citizens.

Bringing what she learned on the streets into government, she endeavors to listen to the voice of every stratum. She is also using participatory planning as one of the ways to handle the township’s public affairs as she tries to build a system of “bottom-­­up” democratic participation.

At her initiative, Yuanli is one of the few places in Taiwan with a “children’s participation budget.” Children can make proposals and cast ballots, with selected projects being implemented by the town hall. Once a small child mentioned that the steps on public buses were too high, making boarding and alighting difficult for kids and the elderly. For Liu, this was more than a transportation issue, but a reminder that in a democracy, even the weakest voices deserve to be taken seriously.

Liu Yu-yu has promoted a “child participation budget” in Yuanli, allowing children to make proposals and cast ballots, with selected projects implemented by the town hall. Listening to the voices of children is in itself a lesson in democracy. 

(courtesy of Yuanli Township Office)

Democracy is made of small voices

In Liu’s office there are many sticky notes left by members of the public. Some express gratitude, others offer suggestions, and some make blunt criticisms.

“I feel that the sticky notes are very important,” she avers. “Look for instance at the Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan or the Lennon Walls of the Anti-­Extradition Bill Movement in Hong Kong, in which people expressed their ideas with sticky notes. After all, isn’t democracy all about aggregating the individual voices of all citizens?”

The sticky notes are part of the everyday landscape of democracy. Today, 30 years after Taiwan’s first direct presidential election, our democracy has long ceased to be only about what happens at the ballot box. Instead, it is about individuals who are willing to continually participate in and be “busybodies” about public affairs, steadily integrating demo­cracy into daily life. 

Liu Yu-yu keeps the sticky notes on which people write their opinions about public affairs, because she believes that democracy is all about aggregating the individual voices of all citizens.