為民主投資：中小企業與臺灣的民主轉型（1977-2000）

Abstract

台灣如何民主化？台灣的經濟發展如何促進民主轉型？本文講述1977年到2000年之間，台灣的中小企業主如何與民主運動的政治菁英相互結合，形成一個強而有力的社會聯盟。這個社會聯盟作為民主運動的底流，成為民主轉型的關鍵之一。 本文提出了兩個研究問題：一、台灣的中小企業是否與民主運動／民進黨的政治菁英結合，形成社會聯盟？二、此社會聯盟是以利益為導向的「利益聯盟」還是以理念為導向的「理念聯盟」？本研究訪談了17位民主運動參與者，包括政治人物、中小企業主、以及深度參與的一般民眾。以口述歷史的方法，探討民主運動的經濟資源如何、為何被動員？藉由質性訪談，本文重新建構了台灣民主轉型的另一個故事。證明了台灣的中小企業與民主運動／民進黨結成了一個「理念導向」的社會聯盟。在理論層面，本文補足了民主化理論中「結構論」對於「經濟發展可以促進民主轉型」的關鍵機制。同時，也對於台灣「發展型國家理論」與「民主轉型理論」做了理論上的結合，提出了「威權政體的結構性缺口」的概念。

When it comes to explain the occurrence of Taiwan’s democratization, previous studies are able to well elucidate the progress and categorize several key actors. Strange as it seems to these researches, the deeper we review the theory, the more we find these researches opaque to answer one of fundamental democratization accounts: “Is economic development capable of catalyzing a country’s democratization forwards?” Moreover, a key player seems to be absent from these researches: an economic support group which funds opposition political elites. In the case of Taiwan, the economic support group was constituted by some small-to-medium-sized entrepreneurs. These small-medium enterprises have not only delivered the legend of making Taiwan an economic powerhouse, they have also shaped the path of Taiwan’s democratization progress. This research tries to lay out these hidden figures, small-to-medium business owners, and scrutinize their influence in politics. Therefore, their motivation, participation, and mobilization in politics is the main focus in the thesis. Accordingly, these business owners are capable of forming a coalition with the opposition political elites, mainly politicians from the Democratic Progressive Party. However, this research also aims at answering the intrinsic of this economic and political coalition. Interviewing 17 business owners, politicians and activists, the research demonstrates opposition politicians and business owners formed a type of “ideology-led” coalition, instead of “patron-client-led” coalition. That the research ameliorates the theory of economic growth account for eliciting democratization.