Taiwan's Development: Implications for Contending Political Economy Paradigms

(Hardback)

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Known as the Taiwan Miracle, the Republic of China on Taiwan (R.O.C.) has, over the past thirty-five years, experienced one of the world's highest rates of economic growth. Arguing that major theoretical frameworks for analyzing international political economy are often too simplistic in that they omit key factors or overly generalize from relationships found only in limited situations, Clark uses a detailed case history of the R.O.C. to suggest not only that development and dependency in contemporary society are extremely complex and indeterminate processes, but that development in Taiwan deviates significantly from the postulates of the two leading paradigms of international political economy. To go even further, Clark states that Taiwan's economic growth and transformation resulted from its deviation from the normal dependency syndrome. Indeed, a development strategy based on economic flexibility and periodic regime change that has made this flexibility possible are hallmarks in Taiwan's success story. The United States and other advanced industrial economies whose past successes have created economic and political barriers to future adaptation can be better understood in terms of the characteristics of R.O.C.'s development strategy. Part I of the three-part work focuses on environment, first discussing various paradigms and theories about development and then presenting an historical overview of Taiwan. The second part investigates Taiwan's international role, political development, and rapid economic growth. The volume closes with a chapter devoted to the implications of the Taiwan experience and political economy paradigms. Eight figures and thirty-five tables illustrate facets of Taiwan's development, including government structure, indicators of agricultural development, industrialization, educational progress, and export performance, among others. Because of the detailed presentations of political economy theories and their variants, especially in relation to economic and political development in Taiwan, this volume would be an excellent choice for courses in political economy, developing societies, Asian politics, and international relations theory, as well as libraries serving students in these areas.

Reviews

The spectacular success of Taiwan's economic development in the last 30 years has produced a series of books that attempt to unlock the puzzle of that rapid growth. Clark's well-organized and smoothly written book is one of them. The volume is divided into three parts. In Part 1, he discusses three major theories on the economic and political development process of a nation, i.e., the developmentalist, dependency, and statist approaches. Historical legacies for Taiwan's postwar development are also briefly sketched. Part 2 is a detailed analysis of international forces that affected the political and economic development of the island country, including its client-state relationship with the US and the continuing conflict with mainland China. In a search for stability, Taiwan undertook significant reform in political and economic systems through gradual democratization of various institutions. This liberalization improved the ability of the regime to formulate and implement an effective development strategy. A chapter is devoted to the study of development policies in such fields as export promotion and upscaling of industries. In the last part Clark draws some implications from Taiwan's success story by constructing a model of the political economy of this country. This model is then evaluated on the basis of the three approaches to development discussed earlier. Recommended for upper-division and graduate collections.-Choice
This case study of Taiwan's rapid growth and development since the 1950s examines the implications of this growth for the developmentalist, dependency, and statist paradigms of political economy. Discusses various theoretical approaches to development and outlines the historical growth of Taiwan. The country's international relations and trade, basic political institutions, agricultural reform, and industrialization are investigated for the period from 1950-1988. Clark is a professor of political science at the University of Wyoming, Laramie.-Economic Books: Current Selections
"This case study of Taiwan's rapid growth and development since the 1950s examines the implications of this growth for the developmentalist, dependency, and statist paradigms of political economy. Discusses various theoretical approaches to development and outlines the historical growth of Taiwan. The country's international relations and trade, basic political institutions, agricultural reform, and industrialization are investigated for the period from 1950-1988. Clark is a professor of political science at the University of Wyoming, Laramie."-Economic Books: Current Selections
"The spectacular success of Taiwan's economic development in the last 30 years has produced a series of books that attempt to unlock the puzzle of that rapid growth. Clark's well-organized and smoothly written book is one of them. The volume is divided into three parts. In Part 1, he discusses three major theories on the economic and political development process of a nation, i.e., the developmentalist, dependency, and statist approaches. Historical legacies for Taiwan's postwar development are also briefly sketched. Part 2 is a detailed analysis of international forces that affected the political and economic development of the island country, including its client-state relationship with the US and the continuing conflict with mainland China. In a search for stability, Taiwan undertook significant reform in political and economic systems through gradual democratization of various institutions. This liberalization improved the ability of the regime to formulate and implement an effective development strategy. A chapter is devoted to the study of development policies in such fields as export promotion and upscaling of industries. In the last part Clark draws some implications from Taiwan's success story by constructing a model of the political economy of this country. This model is then evaluated on the basis of the three approaches to development discussed earlier. Recommended for upper-division and graduate collections."-Choice

Author Bio

CAL CLARK is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. He coauthored The Communist Balkans in International Politics and coedited North/South Relations: Studies in Dependency Reversal (Praeger Publishers, 1983) and State and Development. His essays have appeared in American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, East Central Europe, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Political and Military Sociology, Policy Studies Journal, Political Methodology, Politics, Publius, Social Science Journal, Southeastern Europe, and Western Political Quarterly.