The developmental state and its discontent: the evolution of the open government data policy in Taiwan

Abstract

Since the late 1980s, emerging political and economic forces challenged the effectiveness of so-called ‘developmental states’. While some argue that the development state is dead, others proclaim its persistence to this day. To explore the persistence and changes of developmental states, I use Taiwan’s open government data (OGD) policy as an analytical case. OGD was initially promulgated as primarily an economic policy, but it became a policy that also emphasised good governance. The evolution suggests that the developmental state in Taiwan has both persisted and been transformed. The persistence can be seen in the continuous influence of competent economic bureaucracies, ad hoc ties between state and capital, and the commitment to state-led economic development. On the other hand, the state has also changed, as non-economy-centred agencies have gained substantial power, the strength of civil society vis-à-vis the government has grown significantly, the bureaucracy has been increasingly incorporated into the ‘world polity’ and the logic of democracy has begun to be seen as supplementary to economic development. My theorisation rejects the wholesale endorsement or abandonment of the concept of ‘developmental state’ and treats the state as an entity that has ‘many hands’ and different types of ‘path dependence’.

Keywords:

• Developmental states
• the many hands of the state
• state transformation
• open government
• Taiwan
• ICT and digital economy

Acknowledgements

I thank Professors Jonah Levy and Kuo-Ming Lin for their invaluable guidance and encouragement. I am also grateful for the constructive feedback offered by the anonymous reviewers and editors of Third World Quarterly.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding

This work was supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology [under Grant 108-2813-C-002-266-H].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology [under Grant 108-2813-C-002-266-H].

Notes on contributors

Terrence Ting-Yen Chen

Terrence Ting-Yen Chen is a PhD student in sociology at New York University and holds a bachelor degree in sociology from National Taiwan University. His research investigates the political contexts of digital democracy as well as the relationship between digital technologies and democratic governance, especially focusing on the rise of open government around the world. He is also interested in the expansion of the welfare state in the era of neoliberalism, with a regional focus in East Asia.