作者認為政黨民主是民主化研究中應該被探討的一個面向。本文分別從歷史面、規範面以及台灣民眾的反應，說明：第一，台灣民主化的過程中，各政黨扮演了不同的角色。國、民兩黨在台灣憲政改革的過程中的合作與競爭，是台灣民主化的主要動力之一；第二，台灣民眾均肯定主要政黨的民主形象。民眾相當一致地認為國民黨是個對民主有貢獻的黨；對1990年代的民進黨的表現，印象最深的就是「民主」。但台灣政黨的內部民主問題仍然值得更有系 統、更深入的研究。

Are all political parties democratic in the democratized Taiwan? This is a question which should have been taken care of in the study of democratization. This paper analyzes the process of democratization and survey data in the 1990's and concludes that the major political parties, especially the Kuomintang and the DPP, played significant roles in the democratization of Taiwan. They also are perceived by the public as parties which contributed to democratization. Both share an image of a "party promoting democracy." However, the question of whether major political parties are internally democratic is a topic which needs to be systematically studied.