Participants in legislative brawls are often portrayed as hot-headed or irrational. They usually defend their actions in apocalyptic terms: “Democracy was on the line!” A better way to understand legislative brawling is as a form of political communication. Brawlers are strategic actors trying to advance their political careers by sending a message about themselves to a target audience. Taiwan’s extensive history of legislative brawls provides a unique window to observe this logic in action.

Speaker:

Nathan Batto is Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica and Election Study Center, National Chengchi University. He holds an MA from NCCU and a PhD from UCSD. He has published widely on electoral, legislative, and party politics in Taiwan. He also writes a blog, frozen garlic, on elections in Taiwan.

Moderator:

TBD 

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This public lecture is organized by the 21st Century China Center (21CCC) at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. For more information about this and other 21CCC events, please visit china.ucsd.edu.