The SMU Tower Center presents a Sun And Star lecture - The 2024 Presidential and Legislative Elections in Taiwan: Implications for the United States and the World

Date: Monday, February 19, 2024, 12:00 – 1:30 p.m.

 

Location: Karcher Auditorium, Storey Hall, 3315 Daniel Ave. Dallas. TX 75205

Parking: Daniel Parking Center, 3330 Daniel Ave., Dallas, TX 75205 (parking permit will be sent in a separate email)

(Accessible parking and elevator. For more accessibility questions, email us at tower@smu.edu.)

 

Lunch will be provided.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Please click below for registration.

 

The 2024 presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan resulted in the continuation of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government with President-Elect William Lai. Nevertheless, the DPP lost its majority status in the legislative body, the Legislative Yuan, with a minority government in place. These elections also witnessed notable changes. First, the party system can see a "break the mold" moment when the third party, the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), emerges to impose durable change to the two-party equilibrium.  More importantly, the TPP builds a new constituency composed of educated and young voters who strongly refuse the two major parties.  These voters are likely to change the traditional structure of the electorate which has been divided on national identity and relations with China.   This structural change may reshape the party system and utter an era of "new politics" in the new democracy. How will these electoral outcomes change Taiwan's relations with China and the United States? How will China react to an "unfavorable" government run again by the DPP for the next four years? And how will the United States respond to these changes?

 

Featured lecturers: 

 

Karl Ho, Professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Dallas

Karl Ho, Ph.D. is Professor of Instruction and Director of Graduate Studies of Political Science in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. His research focuses on Taiwan and Hong Kong elections and party developments.  His expertise is on using big data and artificial intelligence models to study elections and political parties, particularly in Taiwan. He is the recipient of the Best Paper Award from the American Political Science Association Conference Group of Taiwan Studies. He is co-editor of the book “Taiwan: Environmental, Political and Social Issues” and the author of chapters in multiple books including: “The Taiwan Voter”, “Taiwan's Political Re-Alignment and Diplomatic Challenges” and “The Maturation of a Mini-Dragon: Seventy Years of the Republic of China on Taiwan”.  His peer-reviewed articles appear in journals such as Asian Affairs, Asian Politics & Policy, Asian Survey, Electoral Studies, Human Rights Quarterly, Journal of African and Asian Studies, Journal of Electoral Studies, Journal of Information Technology & Politics, and Social Science Quarterly.  

 

Yao-Yuan Yeh, Professor of Political Science at the University of St. Thomas

Dr. Yao-Yuan Yeh is Professor and Cullen Trust for Higher Education/Fayez Sarofim Endowed Chair in International Studies, Department Chair of International Studies & Modern Languages, Department Chair of Political Science, Director of the Master of Diplomacy & Strategic Affairs Program, Director of the Taiwan & East Asia Studies Program, and Director of the Mandarin Center of the Universities of St. Thomas and Wenzao Ursuline. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Texas A&M University and a B.A. in Political Science from National Taiwan University. His research focuses on public opinion, foreign policy, international security, US-China-Taiwan relations, East Asian politics, terrorism and political violence, and quantitative methods. You can find his publications and research on various prestigious platforms.

 

Moderator:

Hiroki Takeuchi, Director, Sun and Star Program on Japan and East Asia, SMU Tower Center

Dr. Hiroki Takeuchi received his B.A. in Economics from Keio University in Japan, his M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles. He is currently an associate professor of political science, and Director of the Sun and Star Program on Japan and East Asia in the Tower Center at SMU. Previously, he taught at UCLA as a faculty fellow in the Political Science Department and at Stanford University as a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the Public Policy Program. Professor Takeuchi's research and teaching interests include Chinese and Japanese politics, comparative political economy of authoritarian regimes, and international relations of East Asia, as well as applying game theory to political science.

 

Image invitation: Supporters of Lai Ching-te, the presidential candidate of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), cheer during a campaign rally in Keelung on January 8, 2024. I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images. https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/12/asia/taiwan-election-stakes-china-response-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html

 

 

SMU Tower Center | http://www.smu.edu/TowerCenter

Southern Methodist University (SMU)

3300 University Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75275-0117

214-768-3954  tower@smu.edu