英文摘要 |
On November 29, 2014, Taiwan held the largest local elections in its history, with the race in Taipei City receiving particular attention. The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) faced a crisis marked by the confluence of President Ma Ying-jeou’s low approval ratings, the impact of civil movements following the death of Army Corporal Hung Chung-chiu as well as the Sunflower Student Movement, and the emergence of new values concerning generational and distributive justice. Combined with the popularity of the opposition candidate, National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je, these factors produced a tight election in Taipei City, where the KMT had long been in a dominating position. The fierce electoral competition between the two sides was unprecedented, with the starkly contrasting images of the candidates, campaign themes, negative attacks, and the war between new and old media marking very different trends from past elections. Many people perceived the elite image of the KMT candidate Sean Lien as out of step with the new values of distributive justice, but favored Ko as an ordinary citizen and his political philosophy that moved beyond the classic “blue-green” party-lines divide. In addition, Ko pioneered the use of new media and informational technology campaigning, putting into practice the idea of “public participation” throughout his campaign while also successfully neutralizing negative attacks. In the end, Ko defeated Lien to become Taipei City mayor, producing a huge shock for the city’s traditional political establishment. |