Election Study Center, NCCU

Editer by Chia-Hung Tsai and Yao-Yuan Yeh ___________________________________________________________________________________ The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic silently started in early 2020, and no one was prepared for it. Unlike the outbreak of SARS in 2002-2003, a similar coronavirus, it was less contagious than COVID-19, but tended to be more deadly. The COVID-19 virus is much more contagious with a relatively lower chance of causing death. Nevertheless, it is still one of the most dangerous viruses in human history. Studies of COVID-19 have attracted tremendous attention from academia and governments. However, they tend to focus on the fields of biology, virology, public health, and psychology instead of the politics, policies, and political attitudes related to the pandemic. Of course, it is critical to understand the nature of this virus and seek proper policy remedies to stop the pandemic and help citizens to regain their everyday lives, but how the pandemic has affected the public and their views toward politics is equally important as it will determine political outcomes in the near future. We compare the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public opinion, the dynamics of party politics in Taiwan, and some of its strategic neighbors.

Introduction: Legislature-centric and Executive-centric Theories of Party Systems and      Factional Systems      (Nathan F. Batto and Gary W. Cox) Part I. The Consequences of MMM on Political Coordination in Taiwan and       Japan 1.  The Consequences of MMM on Party Systems      (Chi Huang, Ming-feng Kuo, and Hans Stockton) 2.  The Consequences of Constitutional Systems on Party Systems      (Jih-wen Lin) 3.  LDP’s Factions under SNTV and MMM      (Yoshiaki Kobayashi and Hiroki Tsukiyama) 4.  Party Factions in Taiwan under SNTV and MMM      (Nathan F. Batto and Hsin-ta Huang) 5.  Intra-Party Competition and Party Nominations under MMM      (Eric Chen-hua Yu, Kaori Shoji, and Nathan F. Batto) 6.  Campaign Strategies under MMM      (Kuniaki Nemoto and Chia-hung Tsai) 7. Split-ticket Voting under MMM      (T.Y. Wang, Chang-chih Lin, and Yi-ching Hsiao) Part II. Coordination in Mixed-Member Systems in Comparative Perspective 8.  Thailand and the Philippines under MMM      (Allen Hicken) 9.  The Political Consequences of MMP in New Zealand      (Alexander C. Tan and Matthew Soberg Shugart) 10.    Executives and Blank Votes in the Bolivian and Russian Mixed-Member Systems         (Nathan F. Batto, Henry A. Kim, and Natalia Matukhno) Conclusions: Mixed-Member Systems Embedded within Constitutional Systems      (Chi Huang)