"From whatever angle you look at it, the year-end elections have great symbolic and real significance," wrote Michael Huang of the Institute of Ethnology at Academia Sinica. They are not only the first elections since the lifting of martial law, they also represent an unprecedented "participation explosion." "What's more," Professor Huang wrote, "this is the first election in which social activist groups, religious organizations, and university professors have all used relatively open means to express their positions."

This election is more active than those in the past. The New Era Foundation recently released a report on interpellations by incumbent legislators, providing objective statistics on their attendance, the number and topics of their interpellations, and the relationship to their previously expressed political views. The foundation is only willing to support candidates who follow up on what they have promised.

Disabled citizens belonging to the ROC Alliance of Organizations for the Handicapped have visited candidates of the two main parties to discuss issues related to the handicapped and reported the substance of the discussions to voters for their reference. Says Liu Hsia, director of the Eden Foundation: "Elections in the past focused on political ideology. Now most candidates are turning to fundamental problems of the people's livelihood."

There is also a veterans' action group formed by several veterans' organizations which is actively supporting candidates fighting for redemption of land rights of veterans. A physicians' association, the Houseless People's Union, and other interest groups have all openly announced support for their representatives. Buddhist, Catholic, and Presbyterian institutions have separately clarified their political stances.

Amidst this activism, university professors who previously took a nonpartisan position are joining the fray. The University Education Reform Promotion Association and the Teachers' Human Rights Association, formed by more than a thousand university professors, have announced a list of 26 legislative candidates they support.

Some groups are moving to repress vote buying. And others are recording political speeches so that candidates who promise too much can't depend on people forgetting what they said.

At the same time, the structure of the electorate has changed. Says National Taiwan University professor Chang Chung-tung: "The psychology of the electorate is more autonomous than in the past. Those who are still fixated on 'iron votes' [votes which invariably go to a given party] and organization will be hard pressed to reach the level of control of the past."

KMT Cultural Affairs Department director James C. Y. Chu acknowledges: "The self-orientation of voters is on the rise. Votes can no longer be steered by organizational strength." Even local neighborhood chiefs feel that their influence on the younger generation is waning.

Professor Huang believes that regardless of whether the candidates are new or old faces, besides consolidating their original voting bases, the determining factor will be opening up new constituencies. Most worthy of attention are those least mobilized in the past, such as women, middle and primary school teachers, and highly educated urban residents.

To win voters' hearts, candidates are playing the image card. Electronic information and communications technology are being widely employed and public relations companies are all coming in droves. The electorate is less and less willing to take orders.

According to the Taipei City Election Commission, already one third of the thirty leading sites for political expression meetings for 1986 have refused to accept candidates. The main reason is concern over cleanliness.

The Ta-an Public Housing Estates have already established a Special Quietness Plan to prevent candidates' activities from disrupting the normal life of the residents. The plan restricts candidates from using election sound trucks, broadcast equipment, posters, or signboards on the premises, and it requires that campaign flyers be left with the building superintendent for residents to pick up on their own. The housing project will publish the names of violators in its magazine. This doesn't mean that the residents are antipathetic to candidates; it simply means they have taken the initiative to set reasonable, mutually beneficial rules of the game.

"Under political party competition, society has the right to ask that the parties and the candidates they put forward have a high degree of 'political responsibility' and meet the competitive ethics of party politics," says Kao Hui-yu, a reporter for the United Daily News.

Similarly, candidates need to promote a sense of public responsibility in order to change voters' thinking from passive mobilization into active participation. Only in this way is there hope for the quality of elections to improve.

Candidates shouldn't think they can relax or feel smug after winning because the eyes of the voters are growing keener and they are increasingly stressing "after-sales service." Only candidates who keep their promises can remain active on the political stage.

[Picture Caption]

When candidates draw lots to determine the position of their names on the ballot, they watch closely hoping to come up with a lucky number.

Varied and colorful new campaign materials compete to attract the attention of voters. (photo by Huang Chung-hsin)

The environment has been a hot issue during the campaign. A candidate took advantage of a waste recycling activity to win the empathy of voters.

Catchy campaign slogans are designed to enhance the candidate's image and deepen his impression on voters.

As the campaign heats up, campaign head-quarters supply "victory" symbols to boost workers' morale and spread good luck. (photo by Ts'ai Yu-hao)

Varied and colorful new campaign materials compete to attract the attention of voters. （photo by Huang Chung-hsin）

The environment has been a hot issue during the campaign. A candidate took advantage of a waste recycling activity to win the empathy of voters.

Catchy campaign slogans are designed to enhance the candidate's image and deepen his impression on voters.

As the campaign heats up, campaign head-quarters supply "victory" symbols to boost workers' morale and spread good luck. （photo by Ts'ai Yu-hao）