Politics of Taiwan

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is governed in a framework of a representative democratic republic under a five-power system first envisioned by Sun Yat-sen in 1906, whereby under the constitutional amendments, the President is head of state and the Premier (formally president of the Executive Yuan) is head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Executive Yuan. Legislative power is vested primarily in the Legislative Yuan. Taiwan's judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. In addition, the Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants, and the Control Yuan inspects, reviews, and audits the policies and operations of the government.

The party system is currently dominated by two major parties: the Kuomintang (KMT), which broadly favors maintaining the constitutional framework of the Republic of China Constitution and economic cooperation with mainland China, and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which broadly favors de jure Taiwanese independence, and the eventual abolition of the ROC Constitution in favor of creating a "Taiwanese Republic."

Since the de facto end of the Chinese Civil War and the retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan, the modern-day ROC, or the "free area", has consisted of Taiwan Island, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and several smaller islands, including Taiping Island in the South China Sea. Taiwan's six major cities, Kaohsiung, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Taipei, and Taoyuan, are special municipalities. The rest of the country is divided into 3 cities and 13 counties.

Prior to the constitutional reforms in 1991, the political system of Taiwan took place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the President served a primarily ceremonial role as head of state. Executive power was exercised by the government. Legislative power is formally vested in both the government and its tricameral parliament: the National Assembly which elects the President and Vice President as well as makes major constitutional amendments, the Control Yuan and the Legislative Yuan.

Until the end of the martial law period in 1987, the Taiwanese political system under the KMT Dang Guo regime and White Terror was authoritarian, whereby political opposition was harshly suppressed, all religious activity controlled by the KMT, dissent not permitted, and civil rights curtailed. After democratization in the 1990s, new political parties became legal, and restrictions on free speech and civil rights were lifted. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Taiwan 8th place as a "full democracy" in 2022. According to the V-Dem Democracy indices Taiwan was 2023 the second most electoral democratic country in Asia.