Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T16:55:16.613Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Confucian Values and Elite Support for Liberal Democracy in Taiwan: The Perils of Priestly Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2010

Joel S. Fetzer  and
J. Christopher Soper
Joel S. Fetzer*
Affiliation:
Pepperdine University
J. Christopher Soper*
Affiliation:
Pepperdine University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Joel S. Fetzer, Social Science Division, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263. E-mail: joel.fetzer@pepperdine.edu or Chris Soper. E-mail: chris.soper@pepperdine.edu
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Joel S. Fetzer, Social Science Division, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263. E-mail: joel.fetzer@pepperdine.edu or Chris Soper. E-mail: chris.soper@pepperdine.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

It is widely recognized that religious institutions and values play a prominent political role in various countries around the world. What is less clear is the degree to which other prominent ideologies perform an analogous role in regions where they predominate. The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between Confucianism and liberal democracy in Taiwan. As the most important belief system in Taiwan and, indeed, in much of East Asia, Confucianism has provided a model of civic behavior for centuries, performing a largely priestly role. What is less apparent is whether Confucianism inhibited or promoted the development of liberal democracies in the region. While an extensive theoretical debate exists on this question, virtually no work analyzes how Confucianism has been understood by political actors on the ground. The data for this study consist of interviews with 27 politicians, democracy activists, Confucianism scholars, and journalists in Taiwan. The article tests whether or not, in the minds of these key political and cultural leaders, Confucian values are an aid or a hindrance to their efforts to promote liberal democracy. The concluding section discusses the implications of the empirical results for East Asian countries and addresses the parallels between Confucianism as an ideology in East Asia and the religious institutions and values in Western countries.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , December 2010 , pp. 495 - 517
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ackerly, Brooke A. 2005. “Is Liberalism the Only Way toward Democracy? Confucianism and Democracy.” Political Theory 33:437–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ackerly, Brooke A., and Wei, Li. 2008. “What May Confucianism Offer? A Feminist View of Contemporary Structural Changes in China.” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston.Google Scholar
Almond, Gabriel A., and Verba, Sidney. 1963. The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, Daniel A. 2008. China's New Confucianism: Politics and Everyday Life in a Changing Society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bo, Yang. 1992. The Ugly Chinaman and the Crisis of Chinese Culture, Translated and edited, Cohn, Don J., and Qing, Jing. Saint Leonards. New South Wales, Australia: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Byrnes, Timothy A. 2001. Transnational Catholicism in Postcommunist Europe. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Camp, Roderic A.I. 2007. Politics in Mexico: The Democratic Consolidation. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Chan, Joseph. 1999. “A Confucian Perspectives on Human Rights for Contemporary China.” In The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights, eds. Bauer, Joanne R., and Bell, Daniel A.. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 212–237.Google Scholar
Chang, Yu-tzung, and Chu, Yun-han. 2008. “How Citizens View Taiwan's New Democracy.” In How East Asians View Democracy, eds. Chu, Yun-han, Diamond, Larry, Nathan, Andrew J., and Shin, Doh Chull. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 83–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, Yu-tzung, Chu, Yun-han, and Tsai, Frank. 2005. “Confucianism and Democratic Values in Three Chinese Societies.” Issues and Studies 41:1–33.Google Scholar
Chi, Chan-nan. 2007. Jiayi mazu po: Xu Shixian chuanqi (Chiayi's Heavenly Mother: The Romance of Hsu Shih-hsien). Chiayi: Zhang jintong Xu Shixian jijinhui.Google Scholar
China Charter 08. 2009. Translated by Link, Perry. New York Review of Books, January 15, 54–56.Google Scholar
Copper, John F. 2003. Taiwan: Nation-State or Province? Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
de Bary, William Theodore. 1998. Asian Values and Human Rights. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Delury, John. 2007. “Harmonious in China.” Policy Review 148:35–44.Google Scholar
Fan, Maureen. 2007. “Confucius Making a Comeback in Money-Driven Modern China.” Washington Post Foreign Service, July 24:A1.Google Scholar
Fetzer, Joel S., and Soper, J. Christopher. 2007. “The Effect of Confucian Values on Support for Democracy and Human Rights in Taiwan.” Taiwan Journal of Democracy 3:143–154.Google Scholar
Freedom House. 2009. “Taiwan 2008.” http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=363&year=2008 (Accessed February 6, 2009).Google Scholar
Gardella, Robert. 2007. “From Treaty Ports to Provincial Status, 1860–1894.” In Taiwan: A New History, ed. Rubinstein, Murray A.Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 163–200.Google Scholar
Harris, Sam. 2004. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.Google Scholar
Hitchens, Christopher. 2007. God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York, NY: Twelve.Google Scholar
Hong, Caroline. 2005. “Law Protecting Aboriginal Rights is Praised.” Taipei Times, January 22:3.Google Scholar
Hsu, Jacky. 2004. “Protests Mar Founding Father's Birthday.” South China Morning Post, November 13:5.Google Scholar
Huang, Chün-chieh, and Kuang-ming, Wu. 1994. “Taiwan and the Confucian Aspiration: Toward the Twenty-First Century.” In Cultural Change in Postwar Taiwan, eds. Harrell, Steven, and Chün-chieh, Huang. Taipei, Taiwan: SMC Publishing, 69–87.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel. 1996. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.Google Scholar
Jelen, Ted Gerard, and Wilcox, Clyde. 2002. “Religion: The One, the Few, and the Many.” In Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: The One, the Few, and the Many, eds. Jelen, Ted Gerard, and Wilcox, Clyde. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jochim, Christian. 2003. “Carrying Confucianism into the Modern World.” In Religion in Modern Taiwan: Tradition and Innovation in a Changing Society, eds. Clart, Philip, and Jones, Charles B.. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 48–83.Google Scholar
Ko, Shu-ling. 2002. “Gender Equality Law Now a Reality.” Taipei Times, March 7:1.Google Scholar
Kung, Wen-chi. 2000. Indigenous People and the Press: A Study of Taiwan. Taipei, Taiwan: Hanlu Publisher.Google Scholar
Landler, Mark. 2000. “Man in the News: A Determined Fighter Who Paid a Price.” New York Times, March 19.Google Scholar
Latreille, André. 1970. L'Église catholique et la Révolution française (The Catholic Church and the French Revolution). Paris, France: Éditions du Cerf.Google Scholar
Lee, Kuan Yew. 2000. From Third World to First, the Singapore Story: 1965–2000. New York, NY: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China. 2009. “Members of the Legislation Yuan.” http://www.ly.gov.tw/ly/en/index.jsp (Accessed May 27, 2009).Google Scholar
Li, Xiaofeng. 2002. Kuaidu Taiwan shi (Summary History of Taiwan). Taipei, Taiwan: Yushan.Google Scholar
Lynch, Daniel C. 2006. Rising China and Asian Democratization. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Makeham, John. 2008. Lost Soul: Confucianism in Contemporary Chinese Academic Discourse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Millan, Brandon Alexander, and Fetzer, Joel S.. 2008. “Public Support for the 1990 Democracy Movement and Emigration from Taiwan: Exit and Voice or Exit or Voice?” American Journal of Chinese Studies 15:501–511.Google Scholar
Moody, Peter R. Jr. 1988. Political Opposition in Post-Confucian Society. New York, NY: Praeger.Google Scholar
Nathan, Andrew, and Chen, Tse-hsin. 2004. “Traditional Social Values, Democratic Values, and Political Participation.” http://asianbarometer.org/newenglish/publications/workingpapers/no.23.pdf (Accessed August 16, 2006).Google Scholar
Noonan, John Thomas. 2005. A Church that Can and Cannot Change: The Development of Catholic Moral Teaching. Elkhart, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.Google Scholar
Park, Chong Min, and Shin, Doh Chull. 2004. “Do Asian Values Deter Popular Support for Democracy? The Case of South Korea.” http://asianbarometer.org/newenglish/publications/workingpapers/no.26.pdf (Accessed August 16, 2006).Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert G. 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Pye, Lucien. 2006. Asian Power and Politics: The Cultural Dimensions of Authority. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Reporters without Borders. 2008. “Public Media Independence Threatened, Despite Government Denial.” http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=29724 (Accessed May 27, 2009).Google Scholar
Rigger, Shelley. 1999. Politics in Taiwan: Voting for Democracy. London, UK: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rigger, Shelley. 2001. From Opposition to Power: Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roy, Denny. 2003. Taiwan: A Political History. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Siavoshi, Sussan. 2002. “Between Heaven and Earth: The Dilemma of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” In Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: The One, the Few, and the Many, eds. Jelen, Ted Gerard, and Wilcox, Clyde. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 124–140.Google Scholar
Stainton, Michael. 2007. “The Politics of Taiwan Aboriginal Origins.” In Taiwan: A New History, ed. Rubinstein, Murray A.Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 27–44.Google Scholar
Tibi, Bassam. 2000. Der Islam und Deutschland: Muslime in Deutschland (Islam and Germany: Muslims in Germany). Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt.Google Scholar
Tocqueville, Alexis de. 2000. Democracy in America. eds. Mansfield, Harvey C., and Winthrop, Delba. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Troeltsch, Ernst. 1931. The Social Teachings of the Christian Churches. London, UK: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Vovelle, Michel, and Bonin, Serge. 1988. 1793: la révolution contre l'Eglise: de la raison à l'être suprême (1793: The Revolution Against the Church: From Reason to the Super Being). Lausanne, France: Editions Complexe.Google Scholar
Wang, Ya-Ko. 1999. Taiwan funü jiefang yundong shi (History of the Taiwanese Women's Liberation Movement). Taipei, Taiwan: Chuliu Publisher.Google Scholar
Weber, Max. 1993. The Sociology of Religion. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.Google Scholar
Wright, Teresa. 2001. The Perils of Protest: State Repression and Student Activism in China and Taiwan. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar
Zakaria, Fareed. 1994. “A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew.” Foreign Affairs 73:109–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Zuhua, et al. 2008. “Lingba xianzhang.” http://indymediacn.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post_10.html (Accessed February 10, 2009).Google Scholar