Recent Publications

For a nation on the precipice of an open conflict with China, Taiwan is badly unprepared to keep its democratic processes intact in a military scenario. Taiwan’s archaic voting infrastructure is one major aspect that leaves the island vulnerable if a contingency plays out. Since 1994, the people of Taiwan have elected their president by direct popular vote, and the nation has received full marks for Electoral Process from Freedom House’s 2025 Global Freedom Score. The exercis

Following the second failed recall elections on Aug. 23 against seven Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators and the nuclear power referendum, 19 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) local councilors called on President William Lai (賴清德) to win back public support. The appeal came as a recent My Formosa poll showed that the KMT’s favorability rose to 36 percent, surpassing the DPP’s 33 percent. Most of the councilors are in their 30s, representing a younger generation of l

Voters returned to the polls on Saturday for the second time in less than a month to cast ballots in seven legislative districts on recall motions targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers. None succeeded. At the same time, a KMT-backed national referendum on nuclear power also failed to clear the legal threshold. Soon after the results were clear, President William Lai (賴清德) addressed the nation. While praising civic groups behind the largest mass recall election s

On July 26, Taiwanese voters across 24 districts that previously elected Chinese Nationalist Party - Kuomintang (KMT) legislators on...

By Ian Huang and Tatiana Van den Haute In January, Lai Ching-te from Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) broke the eight-year...