Taiwan's party politics is said to be polarized along the "Blue vs. Green" divide. We know little, however, about whether the same polarization takes place among the general public. Drawing from the Taiwan Social Change Survey archive, this study selects three "middle-ground" indicators and charts their respective trend lines based on six surveys over a ten-year period(1995-2005). These three indicators are 1)"supporting none of the parties" when asked about "partisan position," 2)"holding dual identities" when asked whether they are "Taiwanese or Chinese," and 3)"taking pragmatic or swinging positions" when asked about their Unification-Independence position. If polarization exists, the trend lines of the middle-of-the-road indicators would display a downward tendency. This study finds that people's standings about Unification-Independence have been clearly more polarized during this period. The majority of standings on self-labeled identities are moving toward the "Taiwanese" end instead of becoming polarized, however. As for respondents' partisan preferences, the trend line for the no-party-preference group fluctuates. The polarization of the general public is only gradually influenced by partisan polarization in a complicated and non-linear way. By analyzing the dynamics between representative democracy and public opinions, this study argues for the autonomy of civil society which is not to be subsumed under the domination of political society.
