Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction, Wei Chin Lee -- Democracy as Hegemony, Globalization as Indigenization, or the "Culture" in Taiwanese National Politics, Allen Chun -- East Asian Culture and Democratic Transition, With Special Reference to the Case of Taiwan, John Fuh-Sheng Hsieh -- The Role of Political Imprisonment in Developing and Enhancing Political Leadership: A Comparative Study of South Africa's and Taiwan's Democratization, Fran Buntman and Tong-yi Huang -- What if We Don't Party? Political Partisanship in Taiwan and korea in the 1990s, Alexander C. Tan, Karl Ho, Kyung-tue Kang and Tsung-chi Yu -- Taiwan's Distorted Democracy in Comparative Perspective, Cheng-tian Kuo -- Politics of Foreign Labor Policy in Taiwan, Chien-yi Lu -- The Political Economy of Taiwan's Relations with Malaysia: Opportunities and Challenges, Samuel C. Y. Ku -- "One China, One Taiwan": An Analysis of the Democratic Progressive Party's China Policy, T.Y. Wang -- Taiwan: Parent, Province, or Blackballed State?, Alan M. Wachman -- Contributors -- Epilogue -- Index.

Ever since the end of China's civil war in 1949, Taiwan has embarked on its own distinct, divergent path of development. In light of its remarkable achievements and inherent difficulties, therefore, Taiwan should not be considered a renegade province of China, but a society with a democratically-elected government that has taken a route different from the rest of China in developing its own cultural norms and values. This book examines the issues of democratic transition, political imprisonment and the political economy in Taiwan.

Description based on print version record.