Influence of Constitutional Reform on Parliamentary System in Taiwan: From the Perspective of the Abolishment of the National Assembly
Date Issued
2014
Date
2014
Author(s)
Yao, Chung-Yuan
Abstract
Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, is the only liberal democracy with Chinese culture to have successfully completed two exchanges in the ruling party. Taiwan’s transition from an authoritarian system to a true democratic nation ruled by law has received praise from neighboring countries in the Asia Pacific and even from world powers such as the US. Taiwan has been described as “a beacon of democracy to Asia and the world” and “one of the great success stories of Asia”, and this is due to the democratic and political achievements of the Taiwanese government accumulated from multiple constitutional and parliamentary reforms.
The parliamentary system of Taiwan previously differed from that of general democracies, presenting the controversial issue of multiple parliaments. The lack of clarity in defining the parliamentary system resulted in numerous power struggles between the Legislative Yuan and the National Assembly, both of which were titled central civil representative bodies. Although the Kuomingtang government initiated a number of constitutional reforms after martial law was lifted, the issue of multiple parliaments had yet to be resolved. It was not until 2005, when the ruling Democratic Progressive Party joined efforts with largest opposition party Kuomingtang in making a seventh constitutional amendment that abolished the National Assembly, that the parliamentary system of Taiwan could be more distinctly defined.
The National Assembly was a government body established according to Article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of China to represent the people and indirectly exercise their civil rights. It was a crucial design and institution based on the ideals of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the Three Principles of the People. However, why such a crucial constitutional body was reformed into a tasked-based organization and then abolished in 2005, what the abolishment implies on a deeper level, how this abolishment will influence the future constitutional and parliamentary systems of Taiwan, and what direction the government should take if they were to make an eight constitutional amendment to enhance the procedural efficiency of the parliament are all issues worthy of discussion and in-depth study.
This doctoral dissertation contains a comprehensive analysis of the constitutional reforms initiated by the government of Taiwan using document analysis, participant observation, comparison, and transdisciplinarity integration. We discovered that from the perspectives of the separation of powers and parliamentary reform, the seventh constitutional reform and its abolishment of the National Assembly in 2005 in fact have significant meaning with regard to the future constitutional and parliamentary systems of Taiwan. First, the act of abolishment goes against not only the spirit of a central government system and the five-power constitution but also the advocacy of limiting constitutional amendments in the legacy of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Second, the central civil representative body of Taiwan had always differed from those of advanced American and European nations with the controversial issue of multiple parliaments. With the seventh constitutional amendment abolishing the National Assembly and transferring its powers to the Legislative Yuan, the Taiwanese government has declared the beginning of a new single-parliament era in Taiwan. With regard to future constitutional reforms (meaning the eight constitutional amendment), this dissertation puts forward four policy recommendations: the clarification of Taiwan’s central government system, review and improvement of the legislative election system, enhancement of the legal status of the Speaker’s police powers, and the establishment of an expulsion system for members of parliament.
Subjects
國民大會
憲政改革
國會制度
立法院
修改憲法
臺灣民主發展
任務型國民大會
SDGs
Type
thesis
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