The Democratization Process of Poland and Taiwan: Comparative Perspective

Abstract

Poland and Taiwan: two parts of the world distant from each other, differing culturally and socially, and yet facing kind of similar challenges in the late 1980s and early 1990s – characterised by the transition from an authoritarian political system to liberal democracy. This book seeks to present the process of democratisation of Poland and Taiwan from the point of view of shared perspectives. Invoking the classical literature of transitology, it is possible to explore similarities and differences between the democratisation of Poland and Taiwan among socioeconomic factors, fragmentation in society, political culture, meso- structures (e.g. political groups, social movements), political institutions, historical and national- identity aspects, and international influences.