「社區公益」或「派系私益」？探討現今社區發展協會在地方政治的角色：以新北市中和區三社區發展協會為例

Abstract

本研究以新北市中和區的三個社區發展協會為研究對象，關注在民主制度已成為地方政治基本運作框架的情境下，地方派系是如何透過日常互動持續運作，以及社區發展協會在其中所扮演的角色。既有研究多已指出，民主化並未使地方派系消失，而是促使其調整運作方式，轉向更具彈性與隱蔽性的非正式政治實作；然而，派系網絡如何在日常生活中被維繫、連結，以及地方基層組織如何實際參與其中，仍缺乏較實際的經驗分析。 透過長期參與觀察與深度訪談，本研究發現，中和地區的派系運作已不再呈現為以家族或組織為核心的結構型動員，而是逐漸轉化為以民意代表個人為中心的政治經營模式。在此過程中，民意代表不僅是政治資源的分配者，更成為連結行政機關、地方組織與居民需求的重要媒合者。相對地，社區發展協會亦非被動的動員對象，而是作為中介者，在實際運作中展現出一定程度的自主能動性與協商空間；並透過開放的互動與資源的平衡配置，在競爭激烈的地方政治中維持其彈性的行動位置。 除此之外，本研究亦歸納出，社區發展協會的情感動員並非來自單一事件或即時回報，而是建立在一套由制度性與非制度性利益所交織而成的交換機制之上。制度性資源如計畫補助與議員建議款，為協會提供基本的運作條件，並強化幹部層級的組織能力；非制度性資源如加菜金、日常物資與場地支援，則更貼近會員的日常生活，透過反覆且可被感知的給付形式，逐步累積會員層級的情感認同。利益交換往往是互動得以展開的起點，而政治支持是否得以被動員，則取決於情感連結是否在長期互動中被持續累積。 然而，當資源交換逐漸演變為近似軍備競賽的互動結構時，民意代表亦須承擔持續投入金錢、人力與時間的壓力，政治參與的門檻因而提高，並可能使代議政治更傾向於資源條件較為充足者。整體而言，社區發展協會既是社會資本得以動員與累積的公共組織，也是地方政治日常運作的關鍵節點，其角色介於公益實作與派系運作之間，呈現出台灣地方政治運作的複雜樣貌。

This paper examines three community development associations in Zhonghe District, New Taipei City, to explore how local factions continue to operate through everyday interactions under a democratic institutional framework, and how community development associations are positioned within this process. Existing studies have widely noted that democratization has not eliminated local factions in Taiwan, but has instead encouraged them to adapt by shifting toward more flexible and less visible forms of informal political practice. However, how factional networks are maintained and reproduced in daily life, and how grassroots organizations are practically involved in these processes, remains insufficiently examined through close empirical observation. Based on long-term participant observation and in-depth interviews, this paper finds that factional politics in Zhonghe no longer operate primarily through family-based or organizationally structured mobilization. Instead, they have gradually transformed into a form of individualized political management centered on elected representatives. In this context, elected officials function not only as distributors of political resources, but also as key intermediaries who connect administrative institutions, local organizations, and residents’ everyday needs. In contrast, community development associations are not simply passive objects of mobilization but operate as intermediary actors that demonstrate agency and negotiation space in practice. Through open interaction and strategic resource balancing, they maintain a flexible position within the highly competitive field of local politics. Furthermore, this paper shows that political support and emotional mobilization within associations do not emerge from single events or immediate exchanges. Instead, they are built upon an exchange mechanism that combines both institutional and non-institutional benefits. Institutional benefits, such as government project subsidies and councilors’ discretionary funds, provide the basic conditions for organizational operation and strengthen the capacity of association leadership. Non-institutional benefits, including cash contributions for communal meals, daily material support, and the provision of activity spaces, are more closely embedded in members’ everyday lives. Through repeated and visible forms of giving, these resources gradually accumulate emotional recognition at the membership level. While material exchange often serves as the starting point of interaction, the mobilization of political support ultimately depends on the long-term accumulation of emotional ties. However, as benefit exchange increasingly resembles a form of “arms competition,” elected representatives are required to sustain continuous investments of money, time, and labor. This dynamic raises the threshold of political participation and may gradually tilt representative democracy toward those with greater resource capacity. Overall, community development associations function both as crucial arenas for the mobilization and accumulation of social capital and as key nodes through which local politics are enacted in everyday life. Positioned between public-oriented community practice and factional political operation, associations reveal the complex nature of local political dynamics in Taiwan.