J. Megan Greene, The Origins of the Developmental State in Taiwan: Science Policy and the Quest for Modernization

Excerpt

The primary goal of this book “is to investigate how and why the ROC [Republic of China] state built institutions and initiated policies of the sort that we associate with developmental states” (p. 2). In doing this, Megan Greene criticizes many of the luminaries in the field including Robert Wade and Alice Amsden among others. For Greene, a developmental state is both strong and proactive. It has two key groups, political leaders and technocrats, who do not necessarily operate with the same interests (pp. 9-10). Green argues that “propitious moments” enhanced the development of science and technology policies in the ROC state both on the mainland and in Taiwan (p. 141). Thus, during the Nanjing Decade, pressure from Japan and the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war led to stronger science policies. …