From authoritarian policing to democratic policing: a case study of Taiwan

The literature of democratic policing has neglected the case study of unique geopolitical situation. This study examines Taiwan, one of the few countries that has experienced a relatively peaceful transition from authoritarian policing to democratic policing. While the push from the dangwai movement was necessary, democratisation could not be so peaceful without benign concession from ex-president Chiang Ching-Kuo and his hand-picked successor Li Denghui. The article then contrasts the essential characteristics of democratic policing with these of authoritarian policing before the lifting of martial law in 1987. We contend that to endure democracy, the police must accept and embody democratic values in their practices. The difficulties to democratic reforms come from both despotic past and jaundiced interpretation of Confucianism. The essay represents a systematic attempt to explore the spread of democratic policing to a post-Confucian society.