Political and Workplace Democracy in Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan has enjoyed enormous success in economic development over a period now spanning more than half a century, which is internationally recognized as the “Taiwanese economic miracle.” This economic miracle has led to another phenomenon that is becoming increasingly recognized as “Taiwan’s political miracle,” due largely to the extraordinary transformation of Taiwan over a period of less than two decades from an authoritarian state to an open and democratic society.For scholars of industrial relations, there are many intriguing questions arising out of this political democratization, such as what role was played by unions during Taiwan’s move towards political democracy and what impact political democracy has had on Taiwan’s industrial relations system. We therefore begin this paper with a discussion of the role that unions have played in Taiwan’s move towards political democracy, followed by a brief examination of the impact that such political democracy has had on Taiwan’s overall labor movement and on industrial relations as a whole.