Divergent Paths: Imperial Legacies, Strategic Agency, and the Divergence of Democracy in Taiwan and Authoritarianism in the PRC

This study provides an explanatory approach to the question, why the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan developed so differently despite both having experienced foreign imperialism. The short and informal answer is the choice of power retention, namely ideology in the PRC and pragmatic adaptation in Taiwan. The PRC’s formal and informal institutions deteriorated starkly after the extractive Western imperialism. Taiwan experienced a Japanese colonizer exporting and leaving behind an effective state apparatus, on which following agents could confidently build. Agents are understood here as individuals, human beings, social beings, who are affected by the society they live in and simultaneously shape this very same society with their activities and consequences. The results of this comparative analysis are twofold: Firstly, societies that experienced imperialism are more likely to develop on a path towards democracy if the imperial power engaged in building efficient state institutions. Secondly, preference-based choices (i.e., normative, utilitarian and habitual) of political agents matter significantly. The case of the PRC demonstrates normative path dependence with agents, who maximize their utility by preferring ideology over pragmatism. The case of Taiwan shows a utilitarian path dependence with agents maximizing their own benefits by constant adaptation.