On The Spatial Model Of Issue Orientation Among Taiwanese Voters

Since the 1990 s,the issue of unification and independence has always played an important role in party competition in Taiwan.In contrast,the issues of social welfare had not become an important factor affecting voting behavior in the past.However,in recent years,due to economic depression and a widening gap between rich and poor in Taiwan,the influence of that issue has gradually increased.In the general elections of Taiwan in 2012,the issue of social justice and inequality became one of the acutely debated issues between Kuomintang and Democratic Progressive Party.Which issue is more important in affecting voting behavior,social welfare or unification/independence options?Issue orientation has always been emphasized as the variable to affect voting behavior along with party identification and candidate orientation for a long time.Following Rational Choice Theory,issue orientation assumes that voters are rational pursuing self-interests.Voters will measure the utility that different parties or candidates will bring them according to their issues positions and then make their vote decisions.Spatial Theory presents those abstract issue positions in some issue space and then deduces how voters use the points in issue space to form their evaluations to competing parties or candidates.This paper attempts to use TEDS2012 election data to investigate the association between voting behavior of Taiwanese people and their issue orientations in the abovementioned two subjects via two models of spatial theories.We have reached a conclusion that different issues have various impacts on voting behavior of Taiwanese voters through a diachronic analysis.