| dc.description.abstract | Xincheng Township in Hualien County is Hoklo (Minnan), Hakka, Indigenous, and ＂mainlanders＂ and other diverse ethnic groups. It is an area designated by the Executive Yuan as a plain indigenous region, Despite the presence of ＂coastal Hakka＂ elements, the township stands as an ethnic Hakka island amidst the heterogeneous ethnic environment with no Hakka policy incentives, fostering interactions among ethnic groups and political stability through multi-ethnic governance and balance. This paper applies document analysis and theories related to electoral systems, taking Xincheng Township as the research field, to study local public official elections. The findings are as follows:
(1)Indigenous people find it challenging to secure Administrative chief positions without institutional safeguards.
(2)The township heads elected are from the ＂mainlander＂ and Hakka groups. Their ability to stand out among minority groups and have the chance to govern indic-ates that there is no rotation of the same ethnic gro-up over the long
term. In representative elections, all four major ethnic groups for election. After the election, apart from two seats for plain indigenous representatives, the majority Hoklo (Minnan) ethnic group fills the rest. The president and vice president of the representative assembly are elected from the Hoklo (Minnan) group. The historically elected towns-hip heads, assembly presidents, and vice presidents have all been from the Kuomintang (KMT).
Although the-se are different ethnic groups, they share KMT affili-ation. Election results can be attributed to the oper-ation of party resources, local faction management, or personal connections, which are critical factors.
(3)In Xincheng Township, different ethnic groups separ-ately administer political executive and legislative powers.
(4)According to ＂Dividing the World into Three: The Transf-ormation of Taiwan′s Hakka Ethnic Group Politics,＂ Hualien County has shifted from ＂factions relying on parties＂ to ＂parties relying on factions.＂ However, as far as iii
the voting behavior of Xincheng Township in Hualien County is concerned, it seems that the trans-formation to ＂parties depending on factions＂ is not yet complete, and the KMT still wields considerable influ-ence. | en_US |