INTRODUCTION

In Taiwan the activities of private social organizations were severely restricted until the mid-1980s. Since the government had neither the intention nor the administrative capacity to adequately improve social security and provide public services, there was a strong latent demand for social services by private social organizations. However, their activities were far from vigorous, given the clear suppression by the government. With democratization in the mid-1980s as a turning point, however, the political environment surrounding private social organizations in Taiwan changed significantly. Their activities became more vigorous, and a number of new developments were observed.

This chapter describes the strict restrictions placed on private social organizations before democratization in Taiwan, in order to shed light on why the government imposed such thorough curbs on these organizations and how the strict restrictions were made possible. This chapter also discusses the role played by private social organizations in the process of democratization from the mid-1980s, and at the same time examines what types of private social organizations emerged around the time of democratization, and what sort of relationships they formed with the government.

POLITICAL, HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

In tracing the history of developments concerning non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and private social organizations in Taiwan, it is necessary to focus attention on the unorganized social movements that preceded those developments. Further, it is essential to grasp the political background to this situation and later changes.

Total Control by the Transplanted Autocratic Regime (until the End of the 1970s)

Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule from 1895 through 1945. In the aftermath of the civil war on Mainland China, Taiwan came under the control of the “transplanted” government, meaning the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT), which came to Taiwan as one of the parties of the divided nation of China, having practically no foundation in Taiwan.