Trust and Transparency in Network Governance: The Implication of Taiwan's Anti-Corruption Activities

Abstract

A core element of governance is the role of networks. Any government is embedded in webs of relationships, and the behavior and cognition of actors in networks are affected by rules of the game created in interactive relationships. Under such circumstances, two important issues -- accountability and transparency -- emerge from the analysis of governance. Trust in networks is the foundation of accountability and transparency. Trust can facilitate efficiency and effectiveness in network governance. Transparency is the cornerstone of government competitiveness, and has a direct impact on the wellbeing of people’s lives. Thus, trust and transparency should be examined from the network governance perspective. The network concept is applied in this research to explore the operation of Taiwan’s anti-corruption network. Research findings demonstrate that the judicial system and Civil Service Ethics Office are two most effective anti-corruption mechanisms recognized by respondents. Although the effectiveness of different anti-corruption mechanisms varies, the overall evaluation of them is not high. On the other hand, even though the judicial system is recognized as the most important anti-corruption mechanism by respondents, only 67.7% of people surveyed believe their safety will be protected by the judicial system. The research findings point out that there are institutional trust problems in Taiwan, and that corruption is a significant problem affecting government competitiveness.