有別於過去以政黨認同為研究主題的文獻，本文嘗試以政黨必要性、政黨信任做為觀察民眾政黨態度的新視角。研究中提出三項假設：（一）多數民眾肯定政黨在民主政治的必要性，但卻普遍對政黨不信任；（二）政黨功能評價對於民眾在政黨必要性的態度有正面影響；（三）政黨功能評價、政黨表現滿意度二者，皆會對政黨信任產生正面效果。 本文的研究結果顯示，上述三項假設均獲得證實，其中意涵值得吾人深思。首先，與世界多數民主國家類似，台灣民眾普遍對政黨存有欲迎還拒的矛盾情結；一方面肯定政黨有其存在的必要性，另一方面又不信任政黨。其次，在本文的研究中，政黨功能評價被證實可影響政黨必要性的態度。政黨功能的沒落是近年來學者在探討傳統西方民主的案例時，屢屢提及的一個方興未艾的現象。一旦政黨功能的沒落擴散到更多的民主國家，恐怕會挑戰、甚至進一步改變政黨傳統上在民主體系所具有的樞紐地位，這將是所有民主國家未來發展所必須正視的問題。最後，本文發現政黨功能評價、政黨表現滿意度皆會左右政黨信任。事實上，民眾對政黨功能、政黨表現的看法應與民眾對政治人物長、短期以來的各項評價密不可分；畢竟政黨只是一個抽象的政治機構，其運作良窳還是有賴政治人物的具體作為。從此一角度觀之，朝野政治人物的言行皆不得不慎，因為其影響所及，無論是長期或是短期性的效果，皆會左右民眾對政黨的信任。

Unlike studies using party identification to examine citizens’ attitudes toward political parties, this essay introduces the concepts of party necessity and party trust to explore citizens’ attitudes toward a political party. Three assumptions are provided and tested based on the existing literature and Taiwan’s experiences. First, in a democracy, the majority of citizens confirm that a party is a necessity while maintaining a widespread distrust toward parties. Second, the citizens’ evaluations of party functions will have effects on party necessity. Third, the citizens’ evaluations of party functions and satisfaction with party performance will also generate effects on party trust. The findings confirm these hypotheses and several implications are of special importance. In the discussions on party change in western democracies, the phenomenon of party function decline has been regarded as a potential contention of a party’s pivotal status. Yet, from the perspective of a functioning democracy, a political party does play an indispensable role in the operation of a democracy. As in most democratic counterparts, citizens in Taiwan maintain an ambivalent attitude towards political parties. While citizens acknowledge the necessity of political parties for the operation of a democracy, they also maintain a rather high degree of party distrust. In terms of party necessity, this essay finds that citizens’ evaluations of party functions will affect their attitudes toward the necessity of having parties. Citizens are more likely to accept the necessity for parties as they uphold more positive evaluations of party functions. In addition, this essay also finds that citizens’ evaluations of party functions and party performance will affect the citizens’ trust in the party. It is argued that the citizens’ evaluations of party functions and party performance are closely associated with the citizens’ assessments of politicians’ respective performances. The functioning of a political party depends on the behavior of individual politicians who belong to the party. To some degree, therefore, the assessment of the politicians’ performance will become one of the sources of the citizens’ trust in the party.