Limited Coercive Power: How to Complete Taiwan's Land Reform under the Authoritarian System

Abstract

In transforming modernization in developing countries and regions, the primary problem is social integration, and the key to integration is land reform. This paper uses the process tracking method to explore the land reform in Taiwan after the war. In terms of initial conditions, Taiwan belongs to the agricultural society. After the war, it got rid of Japan's colonial rule and then embarked on the authoritarian development modeled by the Chiang Kai-shek government. The Kuomintang regime in Taiwan began to institutionalize as early as the mainland period. After returning to Taiwan, the government can maintain high independence and establish a systematic communication channel with the grassroots society, with the landlord as the leading class. In the reform process, the Kuomintang regime had a strong ability to act and promote cooperation between landlords and finally achieved a more thorough land reform. Therefore, for developing countries, because the situation they are facing is different from that of the previously developed countries, having solid political authority and further improving the level of institutionalization on this basis is an essential condition for successful land reform.