All Academic, Inc. Research Logo

Info/CitationFAQResearchAll Academic Inc.
Document

Voter Cynicism, Perception of Media Negativism and Voting Behavior in Taiwan's 2001 Election
Unformatted Document Text:  1 Voter Cynicism, Perception of Media Negativism and Voting Behavior in Taiwan’s 2001 Election Over the last ten years, scholarly research and popular commentary criticizing the performance of the news media during political campaigns have both proliferated. Several research studies have focused on whether the negativism of the campaign process drove away voters and was the cause of the low voter turnout in the United States. One claim made by Almond and Verba (1963) stated, “The development of a stable and effective democratic government depends upon the orientations that people have to the political process.”(p.498) The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between voter cynicism, perception of media negativism, and voting behavior in Taiwan’s 2001 election. Taiwan had a difficult time in 2001, experiencing its first recession in decades. The Taipei Stock Exchange is down 40% since Chen was elected, and joblessness is at a 23-year high at 3.9% (Time, May, 21, p.30). Despite the economic recession, voters in Taiwan did not punish President Chen Shui-bian’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by flocking back to the KMT (the latter of which had ruled Taiwan for more than fifty years). On December 1, 2002, more than 62 percent of the eligible voters in Taiwan went to the polls to vote for the 225 members of the Legislative Yuan and 23 county magistrates and city mayors. It was the first major election after the DPP’s victory in the 2000 presidential election; given the fact that there had been a stalemate between the DPP government and the KMT-controlled Legislative Yuan since then, the new Legislative Yuan election was of particular significance for Taiwan’s political development. During the election, the media struggled to obtain financial support, as many organizations were suffering from the poor economy. Most television outlets have had to sacrifice balance and professionalism for commercial benefit (Taipei Times, Dec. 1, 2001). Scholars and local media workers complained that the media in Taiwan both adopted biased positions in campaign reports and sacrificed their professionalism by cooperating with political parties – being unable to turn down the chance to make money in a sluggish economy. Voter turnout in Taiwan has traditionally been quite high. The biggest problem in

Authors: Peng, Wein (Bonnie).
first   previous   Page 1 of 25   next   last



background image
1
Voter Cynicism, Perception of Media Negativism and Voting Behavior in
Taiwan’s 2001 Election
Over the last ten years, scholarly research and popular commentary criticizing the
performance of the news media during political campaigns have both proliferated.
Several research studies have focused on whether the negativism of the campaign
process drove away voters and was the cause of the low voter turnout in the United
States. One claim made by Almond and Verba (1963) stated, “The development of a
stable and effective democratic government depends upon the orientations that people
have to the political process.”(p.498) The purpose of this study is to examine the
relationships between voter cynicism, perception of media negativism, and voting
behavior in Taiwan’s 2001 election.
Taiwan had a difficult time in 2001, experiencing its first recession in decades. The
Taipei Stock Exchange is down 40% since Chen was elected, and joblessness is at a
23-year high at 3.9% (Time, May, 21, p.30). Despite the economic recession, voters
in Taiwan did not punish President Chen Shui-bian’s Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) by flocking back to the KMT (the latter of which had ruled Taiwan for more
than fifty years).
On December 1, 2002, more than 62 percent of the eligible voters in Taiwan went to
the polls to vote for the 225 members of the Legislative Yuan and 23 county
magistrates and city mayors. It was the first major election after the DPP’s victory in
the 2000 presidential election; given the fact that there had been a stalemate between
the DPP government and the KMT-controlled Legislative Yuan since then, the new
Legislative Yuan election was of particular significance for Taiwan’s political
development.
During the election, the media struggled to obtain financial support, as many
organizations were suffering from the poor economy. Most television outlets have had
to sacrifice balance and professionalism for commercial benefit (Taipei Times, Dec. 1,
2001). Scholars and local media workers complained that the media in Taiwan both
adopted biased positions in campaign reports and sacrificed their professionalism by
cooperating with political parties – being unable to turn down the chance to make
money in a sluggish economy.
Voter turnout in Taiwan has traditionally been quite high. The biggest problem in


Convention
All Academic Convention makes running your annual conference simple and cost effective. It is your online solution for abstract management, peer review, and scheduling for your annual meeting or convention.
Submission - Custom fields, multiple submission types, tracks, audio visual, multiple upload formats, automatic conversion to pdf.
Review - Peer Review, Bulk reviewer assignment, bulk emails, ranking, z-score statistics, and multiple worksheets!
Reports - Many standard and custom reports generated while you wait. Print programs with participant indexes, event grids, and more!
Scheduling - Flexible and convenient grid scheduling within rooms and buildings. Conflict checking and advanced filtering.
Communication - Bulk email tools to help your administrators send reminders and responses. Use form letters, a message center, and much more!
Management - Search tools, duplicate people management, editing tools, submission transfers, many tools to manage a variety of conference management headaches!
Click here for more information.

first   previous   Page 1 of 25   next   last

©2008 All Academic, Inc.