Avoiding a "Bull Moose" Rebellion in Taiwanese Politics: Particularistic Ties, Seniority, and Third-Party Mediation
Analyzes the 1990 political crisis in Taiwan, in which the ruling party nearly fragmented, from a variety of perspectives: (1) A journalist/historian examines relevant documents & interviews 25 individuals. (2) An intercultural theorist draws on US social science to investigate a foreign culture. (3) A communication theorist applies communication theory to an instance of conflict resolution. Disagreement between President Teng-Hui Lee, leader of the ruling Kuomintang Party, & an oppositional coalition organized by Y. K. Lin & General Wago Chiang was mediated by the selection of eight elders who acted as third-party arbitrators. The choice of these elders & their actions as mediators are discussed in terms of a political model of organizational decision making, in which the party is understood as divided along interest, subunit, & subcultural lines. As actions were taken in the various cultural domains on the basis of particular interests & loyalties, consensus was finally reached & expressed through conformity to a set of higher-level values & beliefs that maintained the unity of the party. 1 Table, 2 Figures. D. M. Smith