Sample by My Essay Writer
Introduction
Tsai Ing-Wen became Taiwan’s president on Friday, May 20 and that made her the first female president in Taiwan’s history. She also created the second ruling of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the third political party rotation in Taiwan history. Tsai Ing-Wen’s move on cross-strait relation becomes the focus after winning the presidential election in January 2016. Tsai pointed out that cross-strait relation will “maintain the status quo” after she took office. However, Tsai did not recognize the “One China” and the “1992 Consensus.” Last December, she said, “The DDP did not deny the historical fact of the 1992 cross-strait talks; DDP also agrees that both sides uphold the spirit of mutual understanding, seeks common ground while reserving differences, hoping that the cross-strait relation will move forward through consultation, communication, and facts.” In her inaugural speech, she also followed this statement, described as “cross-strait talks.” Tsai Ing-Wen has placed more emphasis on Taiwan’s autonomy in cross-strait relation. In addition, she has gained the support of many voters with the idea of strengthening Taiwan’s identity. Throughout her political career, Ms. Tsai, a 59-year-old former law professor, has faced questions about her decision to remain single and not have children. In Chinese society, the pressure to marry can be intense, and families often look down on women who remain single into their late 20s. Despite their attacks on her personality and character, her enemies understood that their goals would backfire. They have to keep in mind that the vast majority of Taiwanese want the status quo and are asking neither for independence nor reunification anytime soon. Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s First Female Leader, is assailed in China for Being ‘Emotional’ (HERNÁNDEZ & PIAO, 2016). Tsai Ing-Wen did experience the test as the acclaimed political leader from the foreign media and WikiLeaks. However, we should still have a clear mind on several issues. The first issue is the departure from mainland China a “MUST” option of Taiwan’s multilateral win-win situation? On one side is the loss in a high degree of correlation with the mainland China, Taiwan’s economy will lose its key partner. On the other hand, Taiwan will also lose its vital importance of cross-strait relation in international space. [Click Essay Writer to order your essay]
Tsai is not the first female political leader in Asia, but unlike South Korea’s president, Park Geun-Hui, and former Thai Prime Minister Inira, Taiwan’s first female president is not from a political family. This makes Tsai someone who had an ambition and worked hard to achieve the dream. Her greatest challenge is how to maintain good relations with China. This may be difficult because Tsai’s political party is more independent from the mainland’s intervention. Moreover, she has refused to accept the Beijing’s condition to recognize the “One China” before the dialogue begins.
Research Questions
- How can Beijing’s high pressure on Taipei’s new government be interpreted?
- How will Tsai Ing-Wen react to mainland China’s sensuality and the impacts of the cross-strait relations? Will she be caught in a dilemma?
- Will the cross-strait relations with Beijing make her fall in an unfavorable state?
Nevertheless, mutual understanding with Beijing administration is indispensable to a certain extent. Taiwan has nearly 40% of its export products exported to mainland China, while Beijing has hundreds of its missiles pointing to Taiwan Island. In this assignment, several research methods will be introduced and analyzed for profiling. This will be based on Tsai Ing-Wen to see whether she is suitable or not. These methods will include Self-monitoring & Integrative Complexity Methods, Psychobiography (Personal Quality, Para-Social Interaction, & Political Style), Non-Verbal Behavior, Comparison with Meckel, Tsai Ing-Wen’s Cross-Strait, International Strategic and Defense Research Guidelines, and Inaugural Speeches among many others. This assignment will find a proper approach method for a good research framework for the current Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen’s research proposal development.[Need an essay writing service? Find help here.]
Theory Framework & Methods
Psychobiography Approach
The main advantages of psychobiography include the ability to collect the historical data, which the researcher cannot personally experience and carry on the research study. This approach also excluded the unnatural reaction of the researchers in the direct study. In addition, this method can understand the individual psychological and behavioral development of the general situation and certain characteristics.
Personal Quality
Tsai Ing-Wen is not a hard-edged political leader. Early in her political career, she developed a Listen-More personality experiences and education. People tend to be deceived by her silence that she can be easily bullied or over-headed when that is not the case. It is for this reason that when she unexpectedly became chairperson of the MAC (Mainland Affairs Council) and later the chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party, her leadership skills were doubted by the outside world. She has continuously proven people wrong, and very people now underestimate her leadership skills. Political scientists only gain interest when the aggregate consequences of political institutions, processes, and outcomes are higher. The literature on the aggregate effects of personality on politics varies because the processes of aggregation also vary. In a broad sense, political psychology affects the performance of political systems and processes through the activities of members of the public and the deliberations and decision-making of leaders. The impact of public citizens on politics is often elusive unless when through the elections and severe perturbations of public opinion. On the other hand, the political impact of leaders and others in the active political stratum is not elusive. More generally is direct, readily evident, and potentially momentous in its repercussions (Greenstein, 1992, p. 119). She is often described as a calm person that is self-sustaining when it comes to confronting challenges. In addition, her staff describes her as both a calm and careful leader. She is also a capable political leader that can lead Taiwan to success.
Social Interaction (Para-Social Interaction)
In recent years, Tsai felt that the Taiwan’s economy was not performing well enough. In fact, people had lost confidence in the development of democracy and even wanted to go backward. She told everyone that only through the democratic mechanism was to lay down the differences and unite the consensus as for the only way out. She has taken the trouble to emphasize the most important things to be discussed. She based her question by the mechanisms through which a small power such as Israel becomes self-positioning. How does Taiwan face transformation from innovative economic competition? Do young people need to be more specialized in the international reality? It is important to encourage generations to take responsibility, brave entrepreneurship, and government supporting policies. President Tsai goes into the university speeches, a variety of seminars, interview, and these can all be recorded and analyzed.
Political Style
The political style of this party leader will be the inner culture of the political party. Low-key to success is better than high-profile hypocrisy. Tsai Ing-Wen executes a line of personnel, enhancing civilization line of DPP and trust in the minds of voters. Tsai Ing-Wen is not a regular speaker, but her decisions must have been considered seriously. She participated in the international negotiations among the great powers. She stated that it is important to see the international reality such as Taiwan, which is a small political power, but a big economic country. She deeply understood that the only way would be to strike a balance between the United States, Japan, China, and other big powers, and find living space from the balance. Only then could Taiwan can protect itself. The government has stated that its dealings with China will still be maintained as before. This statement was vital to the presidential campaign. Mr. Ma has eased tensions across the Taiwan Strait by signing business agreements with China. However, these policies have lost broad support because of the belief that they only serve the big companies. Ms. Tsai herself sounded pragmatic on a recent trip to Washington, DC, by promising to pursue peaceful relations with China. It will have reassured her hosts, who do not want a cross-strait crisis. The presidential race will be gripping, but probably no fireworks are expected (The Economist, 2015, p. 39). Some of the president’s traits include working patiently, getting a full grasp before the shot, and being cautious and conservative at the same time. This personality has paid a key role in part of her success in seeking additional partners for Taiwan. Therefore, Tsai’s political style can be further explored in profiling framework.[Need an essay writing service? Find help here.]
Self-Monitoring & Integrative Complexity Methods Approach
Snyder proposed self-monitoring to explain individual differences in self-presentation. He believes that high self-monitoring has three characteristics; suitability of concerning behavior, sensitivity to situational cues, and acts as a guide for adjustment. On this basis, Snyder prepared a 25-item self-monitoring scale. However, the subsequent studies revealed that this scale measured the gap between self-monitoring and self-construction. To determine this, Lennox and Wolfe developed a revised version of the self-monitoring scale. Gangestad and Snyder streamlined the 25-item scale into 18 item self-monitoring scale. Even through small changes in the manner of behavior and communication, a political leader may make a qualitative leap in his/her leadership skills. Although a political leader such as President Tsai Ing-Wen may feel uncomfortable when it comes to trying new things, she can learn valuable lessons that will help shape the ideal self. The 18 items revised self-monitoring scale still has dispute around focused on two aspects. Firstly, an abbreviated version of the self-monitoring scale does not reflect in a single structure because the result of the factor analysis still has many variables. Gangestad & Snyder’s factor analysis has two variables namely public performing and other-directedness. Secondly, is the issue of whether the simplified version of the self-monitoring scale measurement is self-monitored. Is high self-monitoring behavior more situational suitability? Is high self-monitoring more sensitive to context cues? On the definition of high self-monitoring, Snyder noted that behavior is situational suitability, sensitive to context cues, and act as a guideline of behavior adjustment, are these real essential features in high self-monitoring?
The performance of the president with high IC was not necessarily the best in history. An excellent president not only depends on the level of IC but also depend on whether she can adapt to the social situation with his IC. Therefore, the key to being a successful political leader is the timing, which President Tsai Ing-Wen does a full range of thinking for the right questions under the right circumstances. Therefore, the IC score model and self-monitoring scale are not the ideal methods to control the data and predict the hypothesis. [“Write my essay for me?” Get help here.]
Nonverbal behavior
Taiwan Former President Ma Ying-Jeou has a rubbing fingers inertia action whenever he is nervous. On the other hand, Tsai Ing-Wen will look directly when speaking to others. She also touches her chest from time to time to express a sincere feeling. Ma Ying-Jeou is very pragmatic and self-structured in that when he speaks, he is well-measured and knows the rights words that are likely to make an impact. However, Ma Ying-Jeou will respect the views of others, and is a very cautious person. In addition, he is not easily influenced by the emotions of others. Ma Ying-Jeou’s speech displays careful thoughts before words. However, this habit may give people the illusion that he is not close to the people. On the other hand, the Taiwan President, Tsai Ing-Wen is more bureaucratic, and this portrays an American bias towards technical bureaucracy and political figure. Although Tsai does not look like full of energy, she can effectively express her meaning. Tsai Ing-Wen is well organized and rules people without any display of an emotional response. In addition, she is also confident and thoughtful. She can manage to stay composed even when the people around her are affected. This nonverbal behavior can be observed from a distance when the current Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen is compared to former President Ma Ying-Jeou. [Click Essay Writer to order your essay]
Comparison between Tsai Ing-Wen and Meckel
This comparison can be utilized to further research Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen, and this method can be greatly integrated within the research framework. Taiwan President Tsai and Germany Prime Minister Meckel both have a scholarly background. They also hold a great responsibility for their political parties. This comparison is a good approach:
| President Tsai Ing-Wen | Prime Minister Meckel | |
| Country | Taiwan | Germany |
| Year of Birth | 1956, 60 yrs. | 1954, 62 yrs. |
| Birth family | Youngest daughter, father was a business owner. | Born in East Germany, father was a pastor. |
| Original employment | Professor of Law | Professor of Physics |
| Marriage | Single, has cats | 2nd marriage, no children |
| Most Responsibility | Reorganized DPP, Chairperson of MAC, & Chairperson of DPP. | Former German Prime Minister Helmut Kohl broke out the scandal before joining the Christian Democratic Party. |
| Support dispute issue | Non-nuclear homes | Non-nuclear homes, Refugee |
| Nick name | “Far-east Meckel” | “The most influential woman in Europe after Mrs. Chescher” |
| Achievements | In 2008, took over the chaotic party chairperson after the defeated Democratic Progressive Party was in power eight years. In 2012, became the Republic of China’s first female presidential candidate In 2016, became the Republic of China’s first female president. |
In 2000, became the first female party chairperson, in a man-based, during the outbreak of the scandal in the conservative party “Christian Democratic Party.” In 2005, became Germany’s first female Federal Prime Minister. In 2015, showed a strong stand to stabilize the euro zone in the Greek debt problem. In 2015, selected “Time” magazine annual person of the year. |
Cross-Strait International Strategy and Defense Research Policy
President Tsai’s international policy and national defense policy can be studied from these motions. The TPP Task Force has been set up to explore the various aspects of TPP access. Some of the objectives are to increase military expending to continue to strengthen the Taiwan-US military cooperation and to jointly respond to non-traditional security threats such as cyber security. In addition to procurement of weapons systems, access to the platform, more investment are made in local defense projects and Research and Development. Support for internationalism such as Container Safety Initiative and the Da-Gang (big harbor) Initiative are made as a Model to cooperate with the U.S. Counter-Terrorism. Support for cross-strait relation has been achieved by the commitment to build a coherent, predictable and sustainable cross-strait relationship. Governmental transparency is assured through the completion of the Legislation on Cross-Strait Agreement Supervision Regulations and supervision of the Ordinance applicable to the ongoing agreements in progress. Finding the ideal system between whole recruitment and full conscription can be discussed. Defense Reforms are achieved by the Defense Value-Added Strategy, Promotion of the Development of Economy, and the Kinetic Energy of Industrial Innovation by the Defense Industry. It has invested in defense by letting Taiwan’s technology industry take the lead. Civilian science and technology can also be used by the national defense. There is hope that the next generation of scientific and technological development and talent can be dual-use. Defense renovation has been guaranteed by the general acquisition of armaments, weapons, and equipment. If it is within the self-made domestic capability, Taiwan’s Department of Defense should strictly abide by the requirements of the domestic procurement. If it is outside the self-made domestic capability, outsourcing is necessary to maximize the implementation of technology transformation.
2008 Vs. 2016 Inaugural Address:
In this chart, the Taiwan President, Tsai Ing-Wen’s 2016 speech is compared with that of Taiwan’s former President Ma Ying-Jeou, This comparison found that both of them have invariably talked about Taiwan many times. History should record the strategy at Tiananmen Square as the expression of the conflict between generations of the youth impatient for change versus aged leaders holding on tightly to the reins of power lest everything they valued is destroyed. Deng is apt to be remembered as the leader responsible for the massacre in Tiananmen Square, and the controlling aged leader who clung to power beyond his time (Post, 2006). The most frequently used words in the analysis of Tsai’s speech are “Taiwan,” “Nation,” “Economy,” “New government,” “Democracy,” “Development,” “Region,” and “Reform.” Their claims can be understood and analyzed from these data. President Tsai’s speech mainly expressed the future of the new government in economic and democratic development. He insisted he would focus on “economy” and the “cross-strait relation.”
Discussion
Maintain the Status Quo
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen’s most important challenge will be how to deal with the relationship with China. China is Taiwan’s biggest trading partner and at the same time its biggest security threat. The Beijing Administration wants President Tsai to openly acknowledge the 1992 Consensus reached by the Kuo Min Tang (Chinese Nationalist Party) and the Chinese Communist Party, stressing that there is only one basic understanding of “One China.” However, it is widely believed that President Tsai Ing-Wen will not compromise on this issue. She stated that she did not think that reading was correct. The big bright spot in Tsai Ing-wen’s inaugural speech was that she directly referred to a law governing cross-straits relations. She said, “The new government will conduct cross-straits affairs following the Constitution.” It seems that in pledging to remain within the constitution of the Republic of China, Tsai Ing-wen has already implied that she will be sticking to the one-China principle. There is just one ambiguity in how this is interpreted. (What is The 1992 Consensus, And Will Tsai Ing-wen Follow It? Federal Government Documents and Publications. (May 27, 2016). ) In President Tsai’s inaugural address, she elaborated that Taipei should handle the cross-strait relation and should uphold the Constitution of Taiwan and Regulations on Cross-Strait Relations. Both the Taiwan Constitution and the regulations on cross-strait relations do not mention that Taiwan and the mainland are state-to-state relations. In other words, there is no Beijing Administration cognitive “Taiwan Independence” element in these two documents. “The mainland China authorities should be patient.” carefully read Tsai Ing-Wen’s inaugural speech. In profiling President Tsai Ing-Wen, this area can be further researched and discuss.
The overall situation of cross-strait economic integration
Cross-strait trade is like a boat sailing against the current. Therefore, the boat must forge ahead or be swept downstream. If the cross-strait economic and trade circles are still negative, then the cross-strait economy and trade may shrink further in the future. This negativity will bring down the mutual beneficial mechanism formed by the two sides of the Straits, and the Taiwan’s economy will suffer more than China. With Taiwan’s economy already contracting over the last quarter, Ms. Tsai’s priority will be to revive growth. She has proposed developing regional industrial bases, including technology in Taiwan’s north and advanced manufacturing in the center of the island. She has also emphasized the importance of expanding Taiwan’s trade ties globally. She claimed that China would use the economic advantage to pursue its goal of bringing the island under its control. Analysts expected the D.P.P. to make strong gains in Taiwan’s legislature and perhaps win control of it for the first time. If it gains power, then the party is expected to pursue an investigation into abuses during the Kuomintang’s years of rule, as well as the Kuomintang’s acquisition of state and private property while in power. (Tsai Ing-wen Elected President of Taiwan, First Woman to Hold Office AUSTIN RAMZY Author Information. New York Times (Online), New York Times Company. Jan 16, 2016.) Tsai Ing-Wen is well aware that economic policy must have beneficiaries and victims. Changes in globalization and Taiwan’s economic development will certainly face many social disturbance and distribution problems. If the government still emphasizes on accumulating wealth without looking at the distribution issue, then there would be a disaster. If Taiwan’s new government seeks short-term growth and lets Chinese elements drive straight temporary, then Taiwan will pay the price. The overall cross-strait economic integration can be analyzed extensively to research President Tsai’s focus in future.
Conclusion
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen, was a scholar, has always been rhetoric, careful, and acts cautiously. She also maintains the status quo and is currently the mainstream of Taiwan’s public opinion. In sum, it seems premature at this point to negate the use of interview responses as a means of assessing the personal characteristics of political leaders as Rasler et al. suggest in the last few paragraphs of their article. An examination of consistency-inconsistency is not as straightforward as one might expect at first glance. Moreover, valuable clues about political leaders and political behavior can be gained by examining where consistencies and inconsistencies occur. By becoming interested in ascertaining which aspects of the situation are influencing personality and which leaders and characteristics are most affected by situational factors, we can learn more about political leaders and leadership while we advance methodologically. After all, President Tsai Ing-Wen and Prime Minister Xi Jin-Ping two leaders hope to have more time to deal with the more difficult economic development and internal problems. Cross-strait structural problems remain unresolved due to sovereignty persistence. However, maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits has become a common need for the leaders on both sides of the strait. In fact, President Tsai’s toughness is hard to imagine, and the methods she uses for such purposes is impressive. She has an astonishing perseverance ability, and her opponents or those who doubt her often only opt not to obey her authority but are eventually defeated by her patience and sense of mission. Therefore, she always wins under others’ underestimation. [Need an essay writing service? Find help here.]
The Taiwan society is a pluralistic nature, and that means that while some people advocate for something, there will always be some who point out the problem. President Tsai understands that she is currently pointing out the problem and will need to come up with a solution since she is in charge. For politicians, the implementation stage is often the biggest challenge. However, it is expected that her move to stand up against Mainland China should give Taiwan the chance to stand on its own. For this study, Self-monitoring & Integrative Complexity methods were found unfit for profiling President Tsai Ing-Wen. The move to remove Taiwan from Mainland China will require strategic thinking and support of other global superpowers such as the United States. Taiwan is capable of investing in its industries and boosting the economic performances. However, it will need to look for the market for its products. Given the number of international meetings that she has attended, this should be easier with the United States being a willing trading partner. However, the most difficult part will be gaining the independence while maintaining good relations with Mainland China. In conclusion, Psychobiography (personal quality, para-social interaction, & political style), non-verbal behavior, comparison between Tsai & Merkel, Tsai Ing-wen’s cross-strait, international strategy and the defense research policy, and inaugural speech comparison among many others can be utilized to design better research framework to profiling political leader Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen.
References
Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s First Female Leader, Is Assailed in China for Being ‘Emotional’ by JAVIER C HERNÁNDEZ; VANESSA PIAO, New York Times (Online), 05/2016
Tsai Ing-wen Elected President of Taiwan, First Woman to Hold Office AUSTIN RAMZY Author Information. New York Times (Online), New York Times Company. Jan 16, 2016.
Global Times: China Opposes Tsai Ing-wen’s Visit to Japan Chinascope, 09/2015, Issue 77
Post, Jerrold M. 2006. The Psychological Assessment of Political Leaders: With profiles of Saddam Hussein and Bill Clinton 1-7. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. Chapter 1- 3
Post, Jerrold. 2004. “When Personality Affects Political Behavior.” In Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World. 11-49. Cornell University Press.
Greenstein, Fred I. 1992. “Can Personality and Politics be Studied Systematically?
Political Psychology 13, no. 1 (March): 105-128. Page 119. *
Hermann, Margaret G., Thomas Preston, Baghat Korany, and Timothy M. Shaw. 2001. “Who Leads Matters: The Effects of Powerful Individuals.” International Studies Review 3, no. 2 (Summer): 83-131.
“Personality and Politics,” pp.13-35; “The Study of Political Leaders,” pp.101-129.
Taber, Charles S. 2000. Problems of empirical inference in elite decision making. The Political Psychologist 5, no. 1 (Spring): 3-9.
Hermann, Margaret G. 1980. Explaining foreign policy behavior using personal characteristics of political leaders. International Studies Quarterly, 24: 67-73.
McCrae, Robert R. 1993. Moderated analyses of longitudinal personality stability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65, no. 3: 577-585. Page 586*
Post, Jerrold. M. ed. 2006. The Psychological Assessment of Political Leaders: With profiles of Saddam Hussein and Bill Clinton. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. – Chapter 10 and; 324-332; 391-398.
Suedfeld, Peter. 2003. “Integrative Complexity of Western and Terrorist Leaders in the War Against the Afghan Terrorist Regime.” Psicología Política 27: 79-91.
Snyder, Mark and Steve Gangestad. 1986. “On the Nature of Self-Monitoring: Matters of Assessment, Matters of Validity.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, no.1 (July):125-139. *
Leone, Christopher. 2006. “Self-Monitoring: Individual Differences in Orientations to the Social World.” Journal of Personality 74, no.3 (June): 633-657.
Ickes, William, Renee Holloway, Linda Stinson, Tiffany Graham Hoodenpyle. 2006. Self-Monitoring in Social Interaction: The Centrality of Self-Affect. Journal of Personality 74, no.3 (June): 659-684.
Thoemmes, Felix J. and Lucian Gideon Conway III. 2007. “Integrative Complexity of 41 U.S. Presidents.” Political Psychology 28, no. 2 (April): 193-226.
Hermann, Margaret G. and Joe D. Hagan. 1998. International decision making: Leadership matters. Foreign Policy no. 110 (Spring):124-137.
Hermann, Margaret G. and Thomas Preston. 1994. Presidents, advisers, and foreign policy: The effect of leadership style on executive arrangements. Political Psychology 15, no.1 (March): 75-96.
Searing, Donald D. 1995. The psychology of political authority: A causal mechanism of political learning through persuasion and manipulation. Political Psychology 16, no.4, (March): 677-696.
Alker, Henry A. 1972. Is personality situationally specific or intrapsychically consistent? Journal of Personality. 1-16.
Simonton, Dean Keith. 1988. Presidential style: Personality, biography, and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: 928-936.
