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Eastern Religions and Attitude toward Direct Democracy in Taiwan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2012

Wen-Chun Chang
Wen-Chun Chang*
Affiliation:
National Taipei University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Wen-Chun Chang, Department of Public Finance, National Taipei University, 151 University Road, San-shia, New Taipei City, Taiwan. E-mail: wchang@mail.ntpu.edu.tw
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Abstract

While direct democracy is a practical form of self-determination in the political process, the value system stemming from a given country's social and cultural factors has been argued to be critical in shaping citizens' preferences for a political institution. This article investigates the relationship between religion and the attitude toward direct democracy for the case of Taiwan, an East Asian country where most people are affiliated with Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religions. Unlike Western countries dominated by Judeo-Christianity, some arguments indicate that value systems emphasizing collectivities, social cohesion, and obedience to authorities in East Asian countries are inconsistent with the fundamental value of democratic norms based on individual rights and self-determination. If this is the case, then social and cultural factors are incompatible to democratic development in East Asian societies. Nevertheless, this argument has not been adequately supported by empirical studies. By using data from the Taiwan Social Change Survey 2004, the findings from this study suggest that affiliations with Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religions are positively associated with the agreement of using a referendum in political decision making. The ideological orientation stemming from these Eastern religions plays an important role in enhancing democratic values and the positive attitudes toward referendum.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , December 2012 , pp. 555 - 583
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2012

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