Editing Taiwan (section)

=== Government ===

[[File:世界最美總統府.jpg|thumb|Taiwan's popularly elected president resides in the [[Presidential Office Building (Republic of China)|Presidential Office Building, Taipei]], originally built in the Japanese era for colonial governors.]]

The government of the Republic of China was founded on the 1947 [[Constitution of the Republic of China|Constitution of the ROC]] and its [[Three Principles of the People]], which states that the ROC "shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people".<ref name="yb:government">{{cite book |title=The Republic of China Yearbook |url=http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/ |chapter=Chapter 4: Government |chapter-url=http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/docs/ch04.pdf |pages=55–65 |publisher=Government Information Office, Republic of China (Taiwan) |year=2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512091917/http://www.gio.gov.tw/taiwan-website/5-gp/yearbook/ |archive-date=12 May 2008}}</ref> It underwent significant revisions in the 1990s, known collectively as the Additional Articles. The government is divided into five branches (''Yuan''): the Executive Yuan (cabinet), the [[Legislative Yuan]] (Congress or Parliament), the [[Judicial Yuan]], the [[Control Yuan]] (audit agency), and the [[Examination Yuan]] (civil service examination agency).

[[File:賴清德總統 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Lai Ching-te]], [[President of the Republic of China]]]]
The [[head of state]] and [[commander-in-chief]] of the armed forces is the [[President of the Republic of China|president]], who is elected by popular vote for a maximum of 2 four-year terms on the same ticket as the vice-president. The president appoints the members of the Executive Yuan as their cabinet, including a [[Premier of the Republic of China|premier]], who is officially the President of the Executive Yuan; members are responsible for policy and administration.<ref name="yb:government" />

The main [[Legislature|legislative body]] is the [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] Legislative Yuan with 113 seats. Seventy-three are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies; thirty-four are elected based on the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties in a separate party list ballot; and six are elected from two three-member aboriginal constituencies. Members serve four-year terms. Originally the unicameral National Assembly, as a standing [[Constitutional convention (political meeting)|constitutional convention]] and [[electoral college]], held some parliamentary functions, but the [[National Assembly (Republic of China)|National Assembly]] was abolished in 2005 with the power of constitutional amendments handed over to the Legislative Yuan and all eligible voters of the Republic via referendums.<ref name="yb:government" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Taiwan assembly passes changes |date=7 June 2005 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4616043.stm |access-date=9 June 2005 |archive-date=23 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223024224/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4616043.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Premier Cho Jung-tai 20240820.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Cho Jung-tai]], [[Premier of the Republic of China]]]]
The premier is selected by the president without the need for approval from the legislature, and neither the president nor the premier wields veto power.<ref name="yb:government" /> Historically, the ROC has been dominated by strongman single party politics. This legacy has resulted in executive powers currently being concentrated in the office of the president rather than the premier.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jayasuriya|first=Kanishka|title=Law, capitalism and power in Asia|publisher=Routledge|year=1999|page=217|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqGSrD9QhXcC&pg=PA217|isbn=978-0-415-19743-4|access-date=25 July 2023|archive-date=2 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002211833/https://books.google.com/books?id=OqGSrD9QhXcC&pg=PA217|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Judicial Yuan is the highest [[judiciary|judicial]] organ. It interprets the constitution and other laws and decrees, judges administrative suits, and disciplines public functionaries. The president and vice-president of the Judicial Yuan and additional thirteen justices form the Constitutional Court, which was established in 1993 to resolve constitutional disputes, regulate the activities of political parties and accelerate the democratization process. The Constitutional Court was formerly called the Council of Grand Justices.<ref>{{cite wikisource |title=Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (2005) |at=Article 5}}</ref> They are nominated and appointed by the president, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. The highest court, the [[Supreme Court of the Republic of China|Supreme Court]], consists of a number of civil and criminal divisions, each of which is formed by a presiding judge and four associate judges, all appointed for life. The right to a fair public trial is protected by law and respected in practice. There is no [[jury trial|trial by jury]], however many cases are presided over by multiple judges.<ref name="yb:government" />

The Control Yuan is a watchdog agency that monitors the actions of the executive. It can be considered a standing [[Government agency|commission]] for administrative inquiry, like the [[Court of Auditors]] of the [[European Union]] or the [[Government Accountability Office]] of the United States.<ref name="yb:government" /> It is also responsible for the [[National Human Rights Commission (Taiwan)|National Human Rights Commission]].

The Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants. It is based on the [[imperial examination]] system used in dynastic China. It can be compared to the [[European Personnel Selection Office]] of the European Union or the [[Office of Personnel Management]] of the United States.<ref name="yb:government" /> It was downsized in 2019, and there have been calls for its abolition.<ref name="2020amend">{{cite news|url=https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/201912100011|last1=Wang|first1=Yang-yu|last2=Kao|first2=Evelyn|title=Legislature passes revised law to shrink Examination Yuan|work=[[Central News Agency (Taiwan)|Central News Agency]]|date=10 December 2019|access-date=19 February 2020|archive-date=19 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219060648/https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/201912100011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Yang |first1=Mien-chieh |last2=Chung |first2=Jake |title=Examination Yuan at odds with self |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/08/07/2003741273 |access-date=10 March 2021 |work=[[Taipei Times]] |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417210058/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/08/07/2003741273 |url-status=live }}</ref>