Civic Governance in Taiwan

Taiwan's Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA), established in 2022, was born from the Sunflower movement's push for greater public participation in government policy. During three weeks in 2014, half a million people occupied the streets to oppose a free trade agreement with China. Protesters believed the bill could risk their homeland's autonomy and democracy, as it would give more power to China.

As a result, a series of civic online platforms emerged. One of them is vTaiwan, an open-source tool that facilitates deliberation on public policy controversies, such as alcohol sales and the regulation of AI. At its peak, it had around 200,000 users and deliberated on 28 issues, 80% of which led to legislative action. The Presidential Hackathon is another initiative. It brings together people with different backgrounds and experiences to address pressing civic problems, such as monitoring air quality and early warning systems for wildfires. The hackathon embodies participatory design principles by empowering citizens to shape their environments. In addition, the Presidential Hackathon uses the Quadratic Voting system, where individuals receive budgets of "voice credits" that can be allocated to different questions to signal the intensity of their conviction. These credits are converted into "counted votes" according to their square root – This means that one credit stands for one vote, four credits are two votes, nine credits are three votes, and so on. This method allows for various interests to be considered, given the possibility of everyone gaining some level of support, contrasting with the typical one-person-by-vote system.

Taiwan's model is recent, which means that there is little literacy about it. In my research, I explore Taiwan's hybrid approach—combining physical protests and the development of digital platforms to contemporary governance.

In Taiwan in fact prioritizing people's needs over market forces? How does it enable citizens to engage in policy debates and decision-making processes? What lessons can be drawn from this experience to inform other societies striving for inclusivity and democratization?