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Communication Networks and Changes in Electoral Choices: A Study of Taiwan's 2002 Mayoral Elections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2016

Cheng-shan Liu
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Abstract

Communication networks play an important role in the process of political socialization. This article, based on Taiwan's 2002 Taipei and Kaohsiung mayoral election data, investigates the extent to which political discussion with family and close friends affects changes in vote choices. Using two definitions of changes in vote choice—vote switching and partisan defection—the empirical findings support Alan Zuckerman and his followers' structural theory and partially sustain Paul Beck's social support theory. First, partisan voters in both cities who perceive great heterogeneity in their communication networks are likely to switch their vote in two consecutive elections. Second, partisan voters in Kaohsiung who frequently discuss politics within communication networks are not likely to defect their party identification. The implications of the findings for the development of deliberative democracy are discussed.

Keywords

partisan defectionvote switchingcommunication networksvoter preferencespolitical disagreement
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , April 2006 , pp. 139 - 158
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 

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References

Notes

I appreciate the helpful comments from Paul Johnson, Stephan Haggard, and this journal's anonymous reviewers. I also gratefully acknowledge the support I have received from the Department of Political Science at the University of Kansas under the Thompson Scholarship (2004) program.Google Scholar

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21. Data analyzed in this article were collected by the research projects of TEDS 2002, and directed by Chi Huang. Public Opinion Survey Center, National Chung-Cheng University, is responsible for the data distribution. The author and colleagues thank the institute and individuals previously mentioned for providing data. The views expressed here are the author's own.Google Scholar

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23. The Blue camp is composed of Kuomintang (the Nationalist Party or KMT) and other parties separated from it—New Party (NP) and People First Party (PFP). Their supporters hold that the Republic of China (ROC) exists legitimately in Taiwan and should pursue a democratic reunification with the People's Republic of China (PRC) in mainland China. The Green camp is composed of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the current dominant political party; Taiwan Solidification Union (TSU); and the Independence Party (IP). Supporters of the Green camp emphasize more the difference between Taiwan and (mainland) China than the difference between PRC and ROC. They argue that, because the legitimacy of ROC in Taiwan has been vanishing worldwide since the KMT lost the civil war, there is a need for this island to give Taiwan an internationally acknowledged identity.Google Scholar

24. Beck, , “Encouraging Political Defection”; Burbank, “Explaining Contextual Effects on Vote Choice”; Stephen Coleman, “The Effect of Social Conformity on Collective Voting Behavior,” Political Analysis 12, no. 1 2004): 76–96; Fournier, Blais, Nadeau, Gidengil, and Nevitte, , “Issue Importance and Performance Voting.” Google Scholar

25. Zuckerman, Kotler-Berkowitz, and Swaine, , “Anchoring Political Preferences,” 294.Google Scholar

26. Indeed, focusing on partisan voters and omitting independent/swing voters constrains the inference of the findings. However, the findings help future research to explore the influence of the same variables on nonpartisan voters. If perceiving heterogeneous party identification and discussing politics frequently have certain influence on partisan voters, will they influence independent voters even more than partisan voters? Google Scholar