臺灣主要政黨實施預選制度迄今（2006年）已逾15年，此一時段已足夠讓我們檢視，當初推動此一制度的理想是否成為事實。根據兩黨今（2006）年實施預選所產生的現象，本文認為當初的理想不僅落空，甚至形成臺灣的民主化過程一些不必要的困擾。與美國實施初選的經驗類似，預選制在臺灣不僅使得資源困乏者難以出線，政黨的理想與領袖的責任也更為薄弱，甚至使得候選人為求勝出不擇手段，造成政治風氣的敗壞。美國以公權力介入初選的實施，至少保證了過程的公平性；我國則視預選為人民團體內部事務，政府並不介入，過程的公平性還因此常受質疑。長此以往，政黨預選必然將侵蝕臺灣的民主根基。

In 1989, the two major parties in Taiwan adopted the “primary system”to nominate electoral candidates. Fifteen years is a sufficient amount of time for scholars to examine whether the system has realized those goals seen by politicians as vital for Taiwan’s democracy. Based on the observation of this year’s party primaries, this article concludes that the arguments used for introducing the system are simply rhetoric. Similar to the American experience, party primaries in Taiwan have suppressed people with fewer resources from seeking public office, and have caused parties to adhere to their policies less and to be less accountable for their own performance. Even worse is that the fairness of party primaries in the United States is guaranteed by state governments, whereas the fairness of Taiwanese party primaries is not endorsed by the Taiwanese government, because the activity is seen as an internal affair of “social groups,”from which the government should keep its distance. This article expresses concern that if the primaries continue to operate in this way, they may undermine the foundations of Taiwan’s democracy.