Abstract
Cultural development is not only the foundation of a nation’s social development but also the basis for its citizens’ spiritual life. On November 10, 1965, the Ministry of Education set up the Cultural Bureau in order to promote the revival of traditional culture, literature and to conduct and inspect the radio and TV programs as well as motion pictures. For a number of reasons, the Cultural Bureau was disbanded in May 1973. In 1979, considering the growing cultural needs of the people, the government decided to establish an ad hoc organization to be in charge of cultural affairs. In July 1981, the Legislative Yuan passed the establishment of the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA), which came into existence on November 10.
Afterwards, people in different circles suggested the setup of the Ministry of Culture. Meanwhile, The Executive Yuan organized a committee for amending the organizational bill of the government in August 1987. In May 1988, a revised draft of the bill was completed and sent to the Legislative Yuan in October of the same year. However, due to the reorganization of the Legislative Yuan, the amendment was shelved in 1990. Two years later, the committee rediscussed the establishment of the Ministry of Culture. In June 1997, at the Second Symposium on Culture held by CCA, the former vice president Lien Chan declared the Ministry of Culture would be set up, and then the CCA soon formed a task force to deliberate its framework. Anyway, in October 1997, the ad hoc committee maintained that the establishment of the Ministry of Culture hinge on the amendments to the organizational bill of the government, and the draft of the bill would not be discussed until both the Acts of the Central Government Personnel Amount and the Central Government Organizational Criterion are passed into laws. In November 1998, the committee discussed the framework of the Ministry of Culture again, but failed to finish the legal process for the ministry’s establishment.
With the government reshuffle in May 2000, the Executive Yuan asked the CCA to submit the organizational bill for further deliberations in the meeting. Nevertheless, due to the second period of streamlining Taiwan Provincial Government, the draft of the bill was postponed for one more year. During the second reading in the Legislative Yuan, the draft was shelved again because of the absence of cross-party consensus. If the amendment of the bill can’t pass the third-reading before the resignation of the lawmakers in January 2001, it has to be reexamined at both the Executive and the Legislative Yuans, it is perceived that the minute and complicated process to set up a ministry.
Like political, economic and military growth, cultural development is an essential element of a nation. Taiwan has witnessed political democratization, economic miracle and a well-balanced national defense over the past several decades. However, we still have much to do in the area of cultural affairs, the promotion of cultural affairs falls under different government agencies, including the Ministries of Interior, Education, Transportation and Communications, and the Government Information Office in addition to CCA. Besides, unlike the Council for Economic Reconstruction Affairs, the CCA has no direct control over the distribution of the cultural budget and cannot examine the projects involving those ministries. There are some who keep arguing that if the CCA can make the mechanisms for overall plan, implementation, research and development on its own then it seems that the establishment of the Ministry of Culture is unnecessary or to reform organization with the Council for Sports as the Ministry of Culture and Sports. To put these issues in perspective, the writer takes forward a number of possible mechanisms that can efficiently and effectively promote high-quality cultural development, and intends to analyze the formulations for consolidating cultural administrative authority through Documentary Analysis, Interview Survey and the Delphi-technique.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key Words：Organization Reform, Restructuring Organization, Organization Mechanism,
Organizational Effectiveness, Dual Hierarchy, Triple Hierarchy, Quadruple Hierarchy