Cross‐cutting issues and the consolidation of democracy in Taiwan

This article examines the cause of Taiwan's recent successful democratic consolidation. It argues that cross‐cutting issues in the electoral process allow democratic systems to periodically generate new winners. The prospect of reasonable certainty to win gives different political groups, including previously anti‐system or semi‐loyal groups, incentives to adhere to the democratic rules of the game. This process contributed to the democratic consolidation in Taiwan. More specifically, the non‐mainstream faction of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, which initially opposed democratization, and the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which wanted more radical constitutional and political reforms, came to accept the post‐transition democratic regime due to the emergence of new electoral issues. New issues surrounding corruption and socio‐economic reforms allowed both the non‐mainstream faction of the KMT and the DPP to advance their interests through the democratic electoral process.     

Juridification and the Construction of Social Citizenship

The article elaborates on the legal construction of citizenship within the welfare state. The concept of citizenship is constructed from the perspective of rights and is closely related to the legal development of various fields of law. Juridification processes in the welfare state directly concern the construction of social citizenship and indirectly affect both political and civil citizenship. Concentrating on juridification within the framework of the welfare state implies that the development of welfare law is the focal point of the article. To understand the implications of juridification processes in the welfare state, we concentrate on the relationship between social citizenship, on one hand, and political and civil citizenship, on the other, and consider the implications of the legal and institutional construction of social citizenship. Social rights may confine the scope of political and civil citizenship and at the same time enhance individual freedom and the extent of political action.