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Levels of Government
The national government, with head offices located in the capital city of Taipei, comprises the presidency and five major branches, or
yuan. Local governments include those of 18 counties, five autonomous municipalities with the same hierarchical status as counties, and two special municipalities. Although, technically, there also exist a Taiwan Provincial Government and a Fuchien Provincial Government, they have been drastically downsized.
The Presidency
The president is head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces; represents the nation in foreign relations; and is empowered to appoint the heads of four out of the five
yuan, or branches of government, including the premier, who heads the Executive Yuan. The president and vice president serve terms of four years and may be re-elected for a second term.
The Five Yuan
The Executive Yuan comprises eight ministries and some 30 additional commissions and agencies, whose heads are appointed by the premier and form the Executive Yuan Council, commonly referred to as the Cabinet. The premier bears the overall responsibility for formulating and implementing programs and must report regularly to the Legislature. Besides reviewing and enacting legislation, the Legislature conducts hearings on policy matters, examines budgetary bills, and monitors the operations of government agencies.
Of the remaining three yuan, the Examination Yuan is responsible for managing the civil service system, the Judicial Yuan operates the nation’s system of courts, and the Control Yuan is empowered to impeach and censure officials and audit government agencies.
Neither the president’s appointment of the premier nor the premier’s appointments of ministers are subject to confirmation by the Legislature. Presidential appointments of members of the Control Yuan and the Examination Yuan, as well as grand justices of the Judicial Yuan, must be confirmed by the Legislature. The head of the Legislature, or speaker, is elected by the legislators from among their ranks.
Political Parties
After the latest legislative and presidential elections in January and March of 2008, the ROC’s political landscape is largely dominated by the Kuomintang (KMT), which had been the ruling party for over five decades until 2000 and regained power in May 2008. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which was the governing party between May 2000 and May 2008, is now the main opposition party. The KMT commands 72 percent of the seats in the Legislature, the DPP 24 percent. Other parties that have had a significant presence in the Legislature in recent years include the Nonpartisan Solidarity Union, the People First Party, and the Taiwan Solidarity Union.
The ROC Constitution
The ROC Constitution, promulgated on the Chinese mainland on January 1, 1947, did not begin to serve its intended purpose as the foundation for democratic governance and rule of law until after 1987, when martial law was lifted. Since then, it has undergone seven rounds of revision—in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2005—in order to make it more relevant to the ROC’s current conditions.
One of the more important consequences of these amendments is that since 1991, the ROC government has acknowledged that its powers under the Constitution and ROC laws apply only to areas that it controls. The ROC president and legislators, therefore, are elected by and accountable to the people of those areas only.
In accordance with the latest package of constitutional revisions, promulgated in June 2005, the number of seats in the Legislative Yuan has been cut in half, from 225 to 113; the term of legislators has been increased from three to four years; a new “single-seat-district, two-ballot” electoral system has been instituted; and the power to ratify constitutional amendments is now exercised by ROC citizens through referenda.
Built in 1919 in the heart of Taipei City, the Office of the President—formerly the Japanese Governor-General’s Office—has been Taiwan’s center of political power for nearly a century. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)
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