Democracy, Economy and Society in Taiwan

General Description

This course will examine the evolution and nature of Taiwan’s democracy and the challenges and opportunities it confronts as a maturing and innovating post-industrial democracy in a very difficult part of the world.  Among themes to be covered in the course are: generational change in Taiwan and its relationship to the evolution of the party system, the economy, culture, and the arts; Taiwan’s role as the global leader in semiconductor manufacturing and new frontiers of economic innovation in Taiwan; the social and economic policy challenges of adapting to an aging society; and evolving defense and security policies in the face of growing geopolitical and military pressure from the PRC.

Learning Goals

1. Gain a nuanced understanding of Taiwan's complicated modern history, including its gradual transition from a poor, insecure autocracy to a prosperous liberal democracy
2. Become familiar with key concepts in the study of democracy, development, and social change
3. Learn about Taiwan's unique and ambiguous international status and the geopolitical and military pressures it faces from the People's Republic of China across the Taiwan Strait.

Location

Most of the program will take place in and around Taipei, a modern metropolis of six million people and Taiwan's largest city. The itinerary will also include overnight visits to the southern port city of Kaohsiung and Taiwan's cultural and historical capital Tainan. Day trips to the northern coast, the technology hub of Hsinchu, and traditional indigenous communities in the mountainous interior are also planned.

Prerequisites & Expectation

One mandatory pre-departure meeting. Spring 2025 EASTASN 143/243 "Taiwan's Democratic Evolution" is optional but recommended.

Living and Travel Conditions

Students will live two to a room in hotel rooms in Taipei and other locations

Faculty

Larry Diamond

Larry Diamond is the William L. Clayton Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, the Mosbacher Senior Fellow in Global Democracy at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. He is also professor by courtesy of Political Science and Sociology at Stanford, where he lectures and teaches courses on democracy (including an online course on EdX). At Hoover, he co-leads the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region and participates in the Program on the US, China, and the World. At FSI, he is among the core faculty of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, which he directed for six and a half years. He has been visiting Taiwan on a nearly annual basis since 1994 and was a visiting fellow at the Academia Sinica in Taipei during 1997-98.

Kharis Templeman

Kharis Templeman is a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and program manager of the Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region, as well as a lecturer in the Department of East Asian Studies at Stanford University. A political scientist by training, he writes and speaks frequently about Taiwan politics and policy issues and cross-Strait relations. He has also led or accompanied several Stanford groups to Taiwan, including trips with the Knight-Hennessy Scholars and the Hoover Veteran Fellows Program. He first visited Taiwan in 2001 as a college student on a study abroad program and has since returned over 30 times.

Grading Basis

Letter Grade