The Political Analysis of Vice President of the Republic of China
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Wei, Yao-Chien
Abstract
Current research on vice-presidents has a number of weaknesses. Most current research is focused on legal institutions and normative issues. The main research methodology is reading of relevant documents, analysis and comparison. There has been no actual interview work done. This paper seeks to use past research as a basic framework to address this inadequacy. It will design a framework of questions in order to carry out rigorous and in-depth interviews, and to collect relevant data.
The paper proposes two hypotheses: (1) the issue of whether there should be an office of vice-president concerns future constitutional reform. The greater the power of the president, the greater the support for establishing an office of vice-president. (2) The greater the tendency to keep the office of vice-president, the greater the support for giving the vice-president clear powers in future constitutional reform. In-depth interviews and examination of relevant documents reveals that the decision regarding whether to establish an office of vice-president and the system of government are related. In addition, the background of interviewees or writers on the subject was an important determinant of an individual’s preference regarding the establishment of an office of vice-president.
Since “constitutional logic” emphasizes the rule of law and rule by law, most people who support establishing a complete constitutional system also require political actors to protect and uphold the constitution. This research tends to support parliamentary systems, and argues that there is no need for an office of vice-president. These researchers tend to emphasize upholding the law. Researchers who emphasize the “operation of power” tend to support either a semi-presidential system or presidential system, and believe that establishing an office of vice-president is necessary. They believe that an effective system must take into account existing political culture, and also emphasize the interaction and compromise of different sources of political power.
The vice-president is often selected from one of the president’s opponents in the primary race, and is often selected to balance power in the party, or balance factions, or even as an exchange of favors. In reality, it is difficult for a vice-president to become an important policy advisor or to play a significant role in decision making. Typically, after the election the vice-president finds himself on the outside of the core decision making group. Although democratic politics “counts heads instead of breaking them” and “uses ballots in place of bullets”, it is still defined by political conflict. It is therefore difficult to find harmony between the president and vice-president.
In many countries that do not use an American presidential system, the vice-president lacks democratic legitimacy or the office of vice-president does not exist. These countries either use a premier or speaker of the legislative assembly to take the roles of vice-president. The two can acts as caretakers in transition periods. Generally speaking, when voting for the president and vice-president, the focus of most voters is on the president. Although the vice-president the president teams up with may have some effect, he is not the central focus, and is often seen as simply as the “freerider” on the ticket. As such, in case where the president dies or leaves office, the second most powerful holder of executive power (premier) or the most powerful holder of legislative power (speaker) can take on the caretaker role until a new president can be elected. In these circumstances, creating an office of vice-president is inappropriate and unnecessary. For example, the Republic of China constitution does not give the vice-president any powers. His only role is to step in in case that the president dies or is forced to leave office. Unless the ROC decided to completely copy the American presidential system, the office of vice-president is unnecessary and should be abolished.
Subjects
Vice-president
Constitutional system
Succeed
Adjuvant
Constitutional reform
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