台灣在1987年戒嚴與1988年報禁解除後，電子媒介仍然在政府的控制之下，並未對公眾開放近用。此一過程造成地下電台的產生，以對抗政府獨大作為其存在的立論基礎。這些電台與在野黨結合，雖然提供另種不同的聲音，勢力也逐漸壯大。不過，有些地下電台仍試圖取得經營執照；但也有些則靠著賣藥謀取利潤。
過去，地下電台成立的初衷是提供另種替代性的資訊與聲音，但在爭取合法化與對抗政府的過程中，他們也失去了這樣的願景。地下電台存在的意義與對抗不公，使電子媒介政策的本質受到扭曲，但也因而使得地下電台的存在價值因此受到挑戰。而撰述本論文的主要目的就是要描述關於台灣地下電台運動的興、衰與再生。
當台灣廣播頻道開放之後的末期，在野的民進黨於2000年取得執政權，地下電台頓時失去獲取政治權力的動力，重組與商業化成了僅有的選擇，因此，過去以政論或公益為主的地下電台，申請成為合法電台變成首要工作。而民進黨執政之後，基於以下兩個理由也想儘速解決眼前這個混亂的狀況（1）地下電台的興起與新政府過去從事的反對運動有關，當在野黨成為執政黨，這些電台可能是潛在的反對力量，促使這些地下電台合法化可使執政黨免於被傷害的憂慮；（2）利用市場力量邊緣化地下電台是理想的策略，也可以避免這些電台再度形成反對勢力。研究者試圖將這些歷史事件詳細討論，期望使地下電台運動在政治喧嚷時期的角色被清楚呈現。

After the abolishment of the Martial Law in 1987 and the lifting of newspaper ban in 1988, the electronic media were still under the control of the government; not open to public access. This had led to the rising of underground radio stations, which in turn found their justifiable role in fighting government monopoly in this area. These underground stations grew stronger when they became part of the force of opposition parties and served as an alternative voice, although some tried to obtain licenses through the formal application process and some continued to make a lucrative profit by selling adult drugs.
The original goal of establishing underground radio stations was a mean to create another forum for different information and voices, yet these stations seemed to lose sight of what a radio station should perform in the public domain during the process of fighting for their legitimacy and against government monopoly. The value of their existence and the war against unfair electronic media policy were distorted over time, their position is now challenged. The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the rise, fall, and the rebirth of underground radio stations movement.
When the opposition party became to grow in size and took office in 2000, underground radio stations began to lose their momentum as a part of driving force to gain political power, reform and commercialization seem to be the options. With that in mind, becoming licensed radio stations is the first priority. The present government wants to get rid of chaotic underground situation quickly for two reasons: (1) It is partially responsible for the creation of underground radio stations, these stations have become the liabilities which might come back to haunt it. Thus, changing media policy by legalizing them would be the plausible way of expunging that shadow. (2) By using market power to corner these underground stations is an ideal strategy to reform a monster it once cherishes so dearly, this would further avoid these stations turning against it. All these historical events will be discussed in details, by so doing, the role of underground stations movement plays in the era of political turmoil can be clearly presented.