equirement is that ofelected officials throughout the country. Thanks to the presidential election of 1996,Taiwan has had completely elected officials, as per its constitution, and continues to do so. The second requirement is that of whether or not the elections that take place are free, fairand frequent. Since the lifting of the martial law in 1987, the rise of secondary politicalparties to run against the nationalists, has provided a sound basis for free and fairelections. These elections are held at the appropriate times for each body of thegovernment as spelled out by the constitution. The freedom of expression, anotherrequirement for Dahls definition, has truly come about since the lifting of the martial law. While under the temporary provisions, much of the population was forbidden to speakout against the government or in favor of another government without the fear ofpunishment from the government. With the rise of political parties, free media, and newfound liberties granted by the constitution since the lifting, the people of Taiwan havefound their voice to be heard not only in their country but also in the foreign community.Taiwan has one of the freest media environments in Asia, (Freedom House,2000: 3). So it is thought to be understood that Taiwan follows the guideline set by Dahlfor the availability of alternative sources of information. However, many of the televisionmedia outlets are still owned in conjunction with the government, to be used as amouthpiece for the purpose of the state. This is not the same for the rest of the media inTaiwan, to which part most of it is a part of the private sector. Inclusive citizenship isanother aspect of a large scale democracy in Dahls definition in which suffrage isuniversal to those age 20 and above in Taiwan, thus meeting another requirement ofDahls. Finally the topic of association autonomy is examined. For the most part muchthe people of Taiwan have the ability to joi...
