Commentary: Illiberal Democracy Omnipresent
By Wang Chien-chuang
United Daily News, December 26, 2021
Taiwan is a young democracy that has evolved from authoritarianism. Since young democracies often lack a deep and profound constitutional culture, their rulers often arbitrarily overstep the lines when it comes to freedom and democracy. As a result, signs of an illiberal democracy can be seen everywhere in the process of governance.
A democracy without actual freedom is a result the of downwards spiral of a supposedly democratic government. Even if a country were to have a complete democratic election process, if the power of the elected president is not subject to constitutional control, the democratically elected parliament will disregard the opinions of the minority, and become a dictatorship based on the majority. The non-elected judicial power will be controlled by people of the leader, and the fourth power, the media will also cater to those in power. Although the country seems democratic, there is no real freedom. Based on definitions given by political scholars, it would be an undemocratic country or a soft authoritarian country.
In recent years, Taiwan’s democracy has been approved and praised by foreign media and think tanks. In the Economist’s Democracy Index survey of last year, Taiwan was listed as a fully democratic country, ranking even higher than established democracies like the United States. But Taiwan’s democracy just is a facade, that can’t be closely looked at and dissected. From afar, Taiwan has the symbolic election, which should be highly praised. But Taiwan’s democracy at a closer look, when implementing actual democracy in the National Assembly, there are major flaws, since it has been subject to the majority dictatorship of the ruling party for a long time.
If the president is arrogant towards its citizens, just because of some foreign praises, then it would be just a form of lying to themselves, just like the Chinese government brainwashing themselves that their process is completely democratic. If those being ruled acts indifferent towards a flawed democracy, or even side with the ruler, and not allow others to critique Taiwan’s democracy, it will soon be like a frog, slowly dying in warm water. Sooner or later, they will taste the bitter consequences of the degradation of a liberal democracy to an illiberal democracy.
In recent years, there have been countless examples of an illiberal democracy in Taiwan. Take the National Assembly as an example. When President Ma Ying-jeou was in power, and the Kuomintang was the majority party, the performance of the Congress could also be described as a democratic failure. Since President Tsai Ing-wen took office and the reins of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), a majoritarian tyranny has become a normal state on all issues. The DPP has the final say on any bill or policy, while opposition parties must use physical force to exert any voice on a bill or policy. Minority parties are forced to use physical force, but still are not able to change any bill or policy. The DPP has maintained a complete upper hand on all things, which is rare in the history of Congresses around the world, only comparable to that of Hungary and Turkey.
The arbitrary actions of the executive power and the dictatorship of the majority legislative power have proved that Taiwanese politics has gradually moved towards an undemocratic state. Judicial power abandoning the last line of defense of governance according to law has accelerated the decline of democracy. For example, the case involving the Xiang Xin couple, where they were accused of being spies, trying to influence the presidential election in 2020. After two years of investigation by the prosecutor, it was decided that they will not be charged due to unsubstantiated evidence. The prosecutor made a huge deal of the case, but in the end, did not catch the spy. The persons of concerned were banned from leaving the country for two years. This is evidence of a judicial violation of personal freedom. However, the prosecutors then used money laundering as a reason to further investigate the Xiang Xin couple in another case, and the bans still has not been lifted. It seems that they just want to send them into prison in any way possible. Such negligence of personal freedom by the judiciary is obviously another example of undemocratic ways.
Compared with China’s democracy, Taiwan’s democracy is much more advanced. But democracy can collapse if the president’s power is not limited by the Constitution, the parliament acts solely based upon the wishes of the ruling party, and the judiciary caters to the incumbent administration. These traits reflect a disintegrating democracy. If even a veteran democracy like the United States has shown undemocratic ways, how can a young democracy like Taiwan be an exception?