Administrative Reform Program." In order to better understand the views and reactions of different sectors of society, the RDEC conducted special discussion meetings in the northern, central and southern areas of Taiwan. Elected representatives, scholars and prominent local citizens have been invited to express their suggestions concerning reform at these meetings. In addition, after deliberating the suggestions for fiscal year 1995 of the Administrative Reform Service Task Force and recommendations made by domestic and foreign scholars at the "Reinventing Government" symposium held at the National Development Research Conference, RDEC accordingly summoned the concerned authorities to make a second revision of the Administrative Reform Program, which started out implement from the beginning of fiscal year 1996.

Rules of Revision

Apart from continuing progress towards the overall goal of "establishing honest and efficient government" and the requirements of "integrity," "effectiveness" and "better service to people," the latest revision of the Administrative Reform Program attempts to simplify government paperwork, realize reform at the grassroots level and demonstrate the Executive Yuan's determination of unending reform. Revisions have been made in accordance with the following rules:

I. Those items that consist of tasks to be performed at a certain stage and which have already been completed shall be turned over to the relevant agency to carry out and shall no longer be included in the reform program.

II. In the case of those items for which only a reform goal has been stated or that constitute tasks to be performed during a single fiscal year, the relevant agency shall be in charge of determining the specific year in such items will be carried out, and the items shall no longer be included in the reform program.

III. In cases when it is necessary to step up implementation of tasks that are closely connected with administrative reform, the item will continue to be included in the reform program.

IV. That part of reform work that overlaps with administrative tasks which are the responsibility of government agencies shall be included in the reform program in merged or revised form.

V. In line with Premier Lien Chan's instructions, new items shall be included in the reform program as the result of deliberation of the views and reactions of elected representatives, scholars and experts, various government units, and citizens at large.

Main Foci of Revision

Implementation of reform tasks must conform to the requirements of "integrity," "effectiveness" and "better service to people." The continuation of the Administrative Reform Program in fiscal year 1995 will encompass 40 items grouped into five sections; nine of these items are newly added, twenty-one have undergone revision and ten are to be continued in their existing form. The following is a brief description of the contens:

I. Elimination of corruption and malfeasance; promoting ethical government: This section includes nine items, among which to establish the "Clean Government Board" at the cabinet, to amend the "Regulations Regarding the Punishment of Corruption" and to enhance the transparency of administrative procedures are new subjects. Furthermore, two of the objectives have been revised and should be kept carrying out. One is the "Promoting Ethical Government Program" (originally entitled "Anti-Corruption Program"), the other is to demand the heads of government sectors to crack down on corruption.

II. Re-organizing government units and re-evaluatinng manpower allocation: Among the four items in this section is the ongoing implementation of the "Organizational and Manpower Simplification Plan for the Executive Yuan and Units Under Its Jurisdiction," which will include trimming the manpower roster by five percent over three years, reviewing organizational and manpower adjustments within various units, coordinating the completion of the regularization of various units, carrying out ongoing manpower evaluations in selected key units, allocating manpower in a rational manner, the transfer of personnel, and personnel retraining; all of these measures have been revised from their original form.

III. Putting government finances on a sound basis and reducing budget deficits: Among the ten items in this section, the formulation of feasible methods of privatizing public enterprises, study of the current framework for the use of special earmarked funds, and review of the functions and objectives of various nonprofit revolving funds constitute new measures. The five items that have been revised are the optimal utilization and development of public property, review and modification of various current fee collection standards, encouragement of private participation in the development of national property and public works, stepped up investigation of the finances of public enterprises and preliminary in-depth reviews of government budget revenues and expenditures during recent fiscal years.

IV. Increasing administrative efficiency and enhancing public productivity: Among the eight items included in this section, the item promoting the circulation of electronic data is newly added. Revised items include promoting the participation of civil servants and setting up a suggestion system, the planning and implementation of preliminary tasks related to the "Administrative Procedures Law" and the promotion of resource conservation in government offices.

V. The realization of systematic reform and enhancement of service to the public: Of the nine items in this section, the items review of amended laws, efficient use of social resources to better serve the public and implementation of transparency in public construction bidding have been newly added. The seven revised items consist of the continued selection of key areas for reform efforts by the Executive Yuan's "Administrative Reform Service Task Force," handing over to the relevant authorities task force recommendations that have not yet been fully carried out, selection and review of key areas where public service should be strengthened, implementation of inter- organization information networks, expanded use of communications technology in handling private application cases, increasing attention paid to indivisual citizen or private organizations petitions and suggestions for reform, and enhancing training and regular evaluations of government personnel.

Other Features

In order to avoid perfunctory reform efforts, eliminate superfluous paperwork and insure that administrative reform is carried out in a thorough manner, besides the addition or revision of the above items, the ARP must also institute a comprehensive revision of the follow-up of reform results, control and review regulations. In comparison with the administrative reform program during fiscal year 1995, the current reform program does not inflexibly mandate regular annual revisions, but rather adopts a flexible revision format; accordingly the new program is not prefixed with the fiscal year. Other major features of the reform program are as follows:

I. In light of the situation resulting from the two-year implementation of the "Anti-Corruption Action Program," relevant laws are being drawn up or revised, the anti-corruption organizational framework is being adjusted and the "Central Clean Government Commission" being established in the Executive Yuan.

II. In light of current financial problems, feasible methods of privatizing public enterprises are being formulated, the current framework for the use of special earmarked funds is being studied, the functions and objectives of various non-profit revolving funds are being reviewed and a business-oriented approach being adopted in order to flexibly manage the government's assets and create income.

III. As far as the wise use of private resources is concerned, apart from putting finances on a sound basis, drawing on private strengths and obtaining private support for the development and utilization of government property, administrative efficiency will also be enhanced through the ongoing entrustment of government services to private parties. To realize the spirit of "sweeping reforms extending down to every individual," private resources will be used effectively in the area of public services.

IV. To achieve the goal of "allowing all applications to be accepted and processed from start to finish at a single office," integrated services will be offered, procedures will be automated to cut red tape, inter-organization networks will be set up, and computerization and the free flow of electronic data encouraged.

V. In order to simplify administrative tasks, lessen the amount of site visit and paperwork during annual performance review, the procedures of "Executive Yuan Year-End Evaluation of Public Service " is plan to combine with the ARP's boosting public services item.

VI. Since *the Draft of the administration Procedure Law* is promulgating in the Legislative Yuan at the present stage, with a forward-looking vision, the government has been preparing all the works necessary upon the passing of the Law. The woks include studing and revising the related the statues, In addition, the training courses regarding the new law are also arranged. All these are preparatory to facilitate the administration processing transparent.

VII. In the area of assessments, rewards and punishments, authority will be delegated to the right level and a spirit of taking the initiative in reform instilled by allowing all government units to draw up specific reform plans which will be sent to RDEC for sorting and submittal to the Executive Yuan for future reference. Assessments will no longer be performed comparing different government units, but will rather employ evaluation of the results of key individual tasks.

I. The Links between Democratization and Administrative Reform

It seems to me that the links between democratization and administrative reform have twofold significance. Firstly, as for its political aspects, not only is administrative reform a companion to political reform, it is also an effective means to consolidate democracy. Secondly, at the administrative level, the results of democratization bring forth an imperative need for administrative reform. Recently praised as a "political miracle" which has come on top of an economic one, Taiwan's experience of democratization over the last decade has demonstrated these links.

II. The Progress of Democratization in the R.O.C

In spite of this situation, a circumscribed democracy consisting of limited elections for additional parliamentary representatives and local-level administrative heads and representatives developed. Thanks to an emerging middle class that had benefited from long-term educational efforts and economic development, this limited democracy gained real momentum in the late 1980s when the former President Chiang Ching-Kuo decided to revive implementation of the R.O.C. constitution. The lifting of martial law on July 15, 1987 signified a remarkable milestone in the history of democratic development in Taiwan. The ensuing emancipation of the printed media soon flooded the nation with information and subjected the government and the whole country to the scrutiny and criticism of a free press.

The next steps taken towards democratization under President Chiang were the amendment of the "Law on the Organizations of Civic Groups" and the passage of the "Law on Assemblies and Parades." The former action eliminated previous restrictions on the new formation of new political parties under the state of martial law, thereby helping give birth to multi-party politics in Taiwan; the latter offered ways for the people to express their dissent. Together, these moves laid the ground for further democratization under President Lee Teng-hui.

After assuming the presidency in 1990, President Lee speeded up the pace of democratization and carried the undertaking through to the current stage. On May 1, 1991, the government simultaneously declared the termination of the Period of National Mobilization and the abolishment of the Temporary Provisions, thereby signifying that the state of war with the communists had formally ended. Subsequently, the government also arranged the retirement of all members of the First Assembly, Control Yuan, and Legislative Yuan, refilling the seats in the three parliamentary organs through comprehensive elections held in 1991 and 1992. The new parliamentarians soon brought forth the constitution amendment of 1991 and passed the law that regulated the November 1994 general elections for the governor of Taiwan province and the mayors of Taiwan's two largest cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung. Next spring the president and vice president will be chosen directly by the people in a support of multi-party political environment. When this final step becomes reality, the R.O.C. will have been fully democratized and will have become a nation where "power lies in the people."

While, as recently warned by Prof. Huntington, democracy may also result in an anti-democracy backlash, at the same time it is the starting point for both the government and the people to consolidate and to safeguard the fruit of our democratization. The best way to conduct this effort is to follow the road of administration reform, if we agree with the proposition that it is a companion to political reform.

As mature democratization has revived the rights of the people, the government must rigorously follow the law whenever it uses its authority in dealing with the public. Rule by law has become an indispensable goal for all spheres of public affair, and thus the current administration needs to take great efforts to adjust to the road of legalization. In political terms, it has to consolidate democracy primarily by means of administrative reform.

Nevertheless, on a societal level democratization has also engendered a more pluralistic society. The public is becoming aware of its rights, learning the limitations of the government, and expressing its opinions through the media. In other words, the people in Taiwan are now far more critical of the government than ever before. According to public opinion surveys conducted by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission (RDEC) of the Executive Yuan (Cabinet), the satisfaction level of the general public towards the performance of central and local governments is in a state of long-term decline.

However, this pressure is very supportive of new reforms. When Premier Lien-Chan was appointed to his position in March 1993, he was quite aware of the necessity of an another wave of administrative reform that could restore and increase the efficiency of government services. He immediately requested the RDEC formulate an administrative reform plan (the "ARP") seeking efficiency and better service as a response to the swiftly changing environment.

III. A Built-in Reform Mechanism

Over more than twenty years, the RDEC has been assigned to draft a series of administrative reform programs and plans. These programs included former Premier Chiang Ching-Kuo's "Ten Reform Measures" regulating the conduct of civil servants, "An Operational Plan to Strengthen the Organization of All Levels of the Government" in 1972, "An Operational Procedure to Simplify Governmental Administration" in 1978, and "An Operational Plan to Adjust and Make Best Use of Local Government Employees" in 1990.

Coming in the wake of past administrative reform measures promoted by the RDEC, the most recent ARP under Premier Lien Chan is a rolling plan which is revised annually. This plan mainly focuses on the promotion of governmental efficiency, prevention of corruption, and providing better services to the people.

IV. Administrative Democratization

Unlike traditional schemes of administrative reform with a primary scope comprising the administrative authority itself, the new effort to reinvent government in the R.O.C. has paid much attention to the participation of the general public, which is now recognized an indispensable pillar of a successful reform by most of the democratic-minded governments in the West and in Asia.

To motivate the general public to contribute their resources and wisdom to our reform plans, it is crucial to establish a foundation from which the rights of citizens and civil servants engaging in administrative procedures can be legally prescribed and protected. Accordingly, in parallel to the actions of our esteemed friends in Korea and other Asian undergoing reforms, the ARP has recommended that the government enact an Administrative Procedure Act which would promote transparency and accuracy of administration in general. For example, in cases of appropriation of land for public use by the government, the Act would clearly require the agencies involved to unveil theirs plans to the residents and to negotiate with them in advance, thereby substantially constraining destructive purchases by the trusts at the expense of the residents. The merits of this is that transparent decision-making can lead to a reduction in the tension between the people and the government. Finally, instead of an unilateral act of confiscation, the Act can provide possibilities for administrative arrangement and contract, thereby generating joint participation in the administrative measures.

The principle of public participation carries the same importance with regard to the issue of public safety. Although the government had time and again shown its energy and determination in eliminating illegal businesses--such as restaurants, theaters, clubs, KTVs-- that are structurally or materially dangerous to the publics, a series of catastrophic fires over the last few years took a considerable toll of lives as well as property. A fire at the Welcome Restaurant in Taichung last spring, for instance, cost of 64 lives and left 14 others badly injured. These accidents have made the government realize that resorting to public monitoring and imposing sanctions against every possible danger in public sphere is more effective than relying solely on preventive measures.

In addition, the "Regulation on Proceeding People Petition and Appeal" has been amended to better take care of the people's complaints and regulates the increasing lobbying activities surrounding administration agencies. Recently we have also started to study the feasibility of establishing a sort of "express service center" designed to offer speedily take care of those who request urgent and extraordinary service and are willing to pay higher expenses.

To solicit opinions from the general public, special post boxes have been widely set up by the central and local governments. A QCC (Quality Control Circle)-like system called "participation and suggestion" has been initiated inside government offices in order to boost the civil servants' enthusiasm and participation for suggesting better ways of doing things. We have witnessed fruitful results in some agencies, especially in some public-owned enterprises.

At a critical time when the government is suffering from a severe budgetary deficit, it is notable that an introduction of private finance and managerial methods into the areas of infrastructure has been given the top priority in our reform plan. By doing so, not only will the government save on expenditures, but will also provide channels allowing private resources to flow into public construction projects. Professional groups, associations, and unions, have simultaneously been invited to play a more active role in assisting in certificates-issuing and probating, in the primary examination of people's application cases, and in other managerial procedures. It is anticipated that all of these measures will facilitate participative decision-making, planning, and even performance-evaluation process, and this in turn will pave the way for a relationship of benign two-way interactions between the government and the people.

V. Downsizing and Reorganization

In practice, the issue of legitimization is also part of the core ARP topic of "Streamlining Organizations and Personnel," and hence must accord with a broader reorganizing process including such measures as eliminating obsolete and nonfunctional units, combining functionally overlapping organizations, and rationalizing the overall personnel structure. An objective was set to cut 5% of total budgetary outlays within three fiscal years starting in 1993, not including newly-built agencies.

By the end of fiscal year 1995, the task force charged with the reorganization of the ARP reached the conclusion that three agencies, 28 units, 30 mission-oriented groups should be listed for elimination; many other agencies and units require functional adjustments.

The task of streamlining confronts difficulties in transferring personnel from the units to be slashed to those demanded more man-power. Because new agencies are all inclined to recruit new personnel by their own means, the problems lie partially in the increasing loudness of various interest groups that favor the establishment of more specialized bureaus in response to the growing complexity of the society. Bureaucratic-minded sectionalism is apparently another problem faced by streamlining.

To break through these barriers, the ARP under revision suggests facilitating the inter-organizational mobility of personnel by means of transfer-oriented professional training and also requiring newly established and manpower-hungry organizations to recruit staffs with relevant qualifications from organizations that are slated for elimination by means of a networked personnel pool.

Because the expansion of the government over the past decade has caused a 2.1% average annual increase in personnel, the total number of public employees has reached 572,000. Thanks to the ARP, this trend has been kept under tight control and the growth rate of public employees cut to 0.55% over the past two years.

VI. Deregulation and Financial Resolutions

To relieve this difficult situation, the ARP prescribes that in order to increase public revenue, the concerned agencies give priority to the introduction of mechanisms that would permit incentives and competition to operate within the present financial system. Additional approaches such as the privatization of publicly-owned corporations, the contracting-out some functions suitable for private management, and the cooperative development and use of public properties by the public and private sectors are all underway.

Among the reform measures to be proposed to the cabinet are the following: First, agencies should be required to conduct a comprehensive review of the problems facing the development of public properties and to make plans for their better use. Second, in order to realize the principle of payment by the beneficiaries and polluters as well as by users, agencies should also be authorized to thoroughly reassess regulatory fees criteria and adjust standards to reasonable levels. Management of the increased revenue will be basically free from central control. Thirdly, a reward system promoting private sectors participation in public constructions projects should be established. Private investments in major transportation system is especially encouraged.

VII. Anti-corruption Measures

To prevent the unlawful behaviors of civil servants, an anti-corruption campaign was launched at an early date. This campaign called for strict punitive actions against corrupt officials and encouraged the people to report any dishonest acts of officials. Large cash rewards have been given out as part of this measure. In addition, investigations are being conducted to look into large construction projects, large purchases, taxation, the police, the justice system, construction management, and other areas where the officials are vulnerable to bribery. In order to create a system of "monitoring by the masses," the Ministry of Justice is actively providing many means of conveying relevant legal concepts and its own determination to fight corruption. These means include publishing and distributing various campaign pamphlets and videotapes, organizing and sponsoring legal seminars and symposia on legal education, etc.

During the period from October 1993 to August 1995, the anti-corruption task forces set up under the Office of State Attorneys uncovered 3,119 corrupt acts, which was an 57.85% increase in comparison with that of the 23-month period before the anti-corruption campaign was launched. The 2,919 public servants prosecuted in these cases represented an increase of 113.38%. The number of those charged with corruption during two years set a new record, and the amount of money associated with embezzlement or bribery reached over NT$7.4 billion. Recently, the Ministry of Justice further suggested that a "Board of Clean Administration" be established in the cabinet to beef up anti-corruption actions.

As far as enacting and amending anti-corruption laws and regulations, the government has promulgated a "Sunshine Act" requesting all political appointees and high-ranking public officials to periodically report the status of their estates to the Control Yuan, this being the highest control body of the state.

VIII. Better Service to People

To facilitate the delivery of services, we have also been computerizing and networking government information, in particular focusing on the collection and the exchange of information related to people's daily lives and including such areas as population, land registration, medical and health care, taxation and banking. A computerized government information network not only can accelerate the speed of administrative processing, but can also facilitate the public's access to government information through electronic devices.

IX. Concluding Remarks

Providing Source ¡G Ministry of Justice
File Last Revised ¡G December 1, 1995
Contact Phone¡G 886-2-3146871

¢¹.FORWARD

During the last two years, seven local elections were held in Taiwan. Gourteen million voters elected more than 13,000 peopel's representatives and heads of provincial,county,city,township and village governments. The idea of "governmernt by the people" has been deeply rooted in Taiwan. While democracy flourishes,political ethics deteriorates at an alarming speed. The emergence of money politics prompted the Government to launch a series of crackdowns on corruption and, most important of all,election vote-buying.In fact,the two are so intertwined that they are like twins,even Siamese twins.

¢º.THE STRATEGY

The objective of this campaign is to clean up election politics and get good people elected. The strategy is fourfold:

a) "Dare not bribe"---Deter votenuying by vigorous law enforcement plus large cash awards(Nt$1,000,000 or US$370,000) for reporting vote-buying to the authorities; an anti-bribery task force has been set up in each of the 19 District Vourts'Public Prosecutor Offices

b) "Can not bribe"--- Revise the election laws to seal loopholes nurture vote-buying

c) "Will not bribe"--- Build up voters'civic pride to reject vote-buying by extensive education campaigns

d) "Need not bribe"--- Urge political parties to nominate quality candidates who could get elected without resorting to vote-buying

¢».THE RESULTS

The year 1994 witnessed large-scale investigations,searches, seizures and arrests on vote-buying in many parts of the island during and after the elections. Take the crackdown on the election of speakers and deputy-speakers of city and county councils on March 1, 1994 for example. From March to June, in 18 out of 23 cities and counties, vote-buying was found. Out of a total of 883 councilmen, 341 were indicted, a whooping 39%. Further still, in a county council in northern Taiwan,54 of the 60 councilmen were indicted and 50 found guilty in the first trial.As of Novermber 29,1995,3,154 vote-buying cases were reported for the elections in 1994, out of which there were 343 indictments involving 1,257 persons. And 793 persons (or 63.09%) were found guilty at their first trial. Ss trials take time, more than half of the cases are still pending.Among those decided cases involving 332 persons,272 persons (or 82%) have been convicted and 60 persons (or 18%) acquitted. More convictions are expected. In some cases, convicted candidates may get probation instead of imprisinment so that they do not necessarily end up in prision. Yet they nevertheless are prohibited from running for any public office for the rest of their lives. So the conviction indeed serves as a death sentence to a politician's political life.

During the last two years,34 reports on vote-buying made by the people eventually led to convictions. Atotal of NT$13.75 million have been paid to them.A resident in central Taiwan is so good at reporting vote-buying cases that he has made more than NT$2million(US$74,074) so far from the cash awards. He now drives his shining Mercedes,bought with this money, giving tals on this special "Know-how" to other zealots.

¢¼.REACTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC

When the Justice Ministry began the crackdown in January, 1994, public confidence in election ethics was at its lowest point. According to one poll,47.8% of the respondents believed that in the city and county council and township mayor elections in January, 1994, vote-buying was rampant. Another poll showed that 58.5% of the respondents considered city and county council speaker and deputy speaker's elections in March even worse. Our law enforcement results also confirmed this finding. But after the crackdown began, situation seems to have improved. In the head of Li* elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung in June, 1994, 77.1% of the respondents reported no incidence vote-buying. Moreover, polls conducted on elections of provincial andmunicipal assemplies in December, 1994 further showed that over half of the people believe that the overall situatuon has ameliorated. The public gave that election a 71-point rating. People in general seem to be more optimistic than ever about the prospect of a clean election. This attitude was confirmed by a most recent poll conducted by the China Times on November 28, 1995. While 35% of the respondents nationwide still harbor doubts about the Government's determination on the crackdown, 45% of them have confidence in such determination. Moreover, 51% of the respondents believe the vote-buying situation has improved or does not exist, while 16% think it is the same as before or even worse. Encouraged by such findings, we at the Ministry of Justice do not, however, have any illusion that election bribery can be rooted out by a year or two's law enforcement alone. Aside from sustained, vigorous enforcement actions. other concerted endeavors such as extensive education campaigns and overhaul of the outdated election laws are also urgently needed. This must be an interagency effort that requires the support of other ministries of the Cabinet as well.

¢½.LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

In the last 40 years, the Republic of China has built one of the most robust economies in Asia. The achievements are praised as an "economic miracle". In the last ten years, a more difficult change quietly took place in the political arena. Martial law was lifted, opposition parties allowed to operate, parliament overhauled and regular re-elections held, and finally, the Constitution amended. These democratic reforms are also praised as a political miracle through a quiet revolution that entailed no bloodshed or turmoil. At the same time when people have more freedoms and participation in public affairs, the common sins associated with capitalist democracies begin to appear in large quantities. The most notable among them is the marriage between money and politics, The judiciary as the last defense of social justice must do its part to check this unsavory trend.

*Li(¨½)is the lowest administrative unit in the city government. Its equivalent in the county goverment is the village.

Looking back, the Government's crackdown on corruption and vote-buying, just like its war on drugs, has received wide support from the people. In less than 24 hours, the Republic of China shall have another important election, namely, the third Legislative Yuan election. Since last Sugust we have made all the necessart preparations to deter and prosecute potential vot-buying. So far, 1,863 law enforcement officials have been dispatched, including 349 prosecutors, 322 investigators and 1,192 policemen. As of November 30, 1995, 398 vote-buying cases have been reported to the authorities, 600 searches, 261 interrogations and 32 arrests (including detentions) have been made. Our determination is unequivocal and unswerving. We urge candidates and voters keep the election clean by refusing to buy and sell votes. We firmly believe that we have made a good start in the last two years. As long as we persist, we will on day drive election bribery out of Taiwan!

A major task for the ARP is anti-corruption. The govemment recognises that corruption threatens its legitimacy. The govemment therefore wants to create a system of monitoring by the masses.