《民主評論》與《自由中國》創刊的背景相當類似，其民主與反共的目標也相同，早年主要成員的私交也不錯，然後來何以關係惡化？本文從雙方內在哲學與文化立場的差異、外在政治形勢的變動，乃至個人的恩怨等面向，分析彼此關係的變化。其中，外在政治形勢變動的視角，乃前人較少分析的面向。本文以為，《民主評論》與《自由中國》原本的哲學與文化立場早已隱含矛盾。但在一九四九年創刊之初，中共政權是兩個刊物共同的「主要矛盾」，哲學與文化立場的差異只是兩個刊物間的「次要矛盾」。然到了一九五○年代中期以後，臺灣來自中共政權的威脅明顯減低，原本《自由中國》與《民主評論》已存在哲學與文化立場的「次要矛盾」遂躍升為「主要矛盾」，雙方關係於是逐漸惡化。再加上兩個刊物的成員間存在一些個人恩怨等因素，到了一九五○年代後期，終因爆發激烈的民主與傳統論戰，導致雙方正式的決裂。

"The Democratic Review" and "Free China's" background of beginning publication was similar, their goals of democracy and anti-communism were the same, and the personal friendship among the main members in their early years was good, but why did the relation deteriorate later? The thesis analyzed the change of mutual relationship from the dimensions of internal differences of philosophic and cultural standpoints, external change of political situation, and personal conflict. Among them, the visual angle of external change of political situation was the dimension that previous researchers' did little analysis. The thesis believed that the original philosophic and cultural standpoints of "The Democratic Review" and "Free China" already had contradiction. However, in the beginning of 1949 when they began publication, Chinese Communist Regime was the two periodicals' common "major contradiction, "and the differences of philosophic and cultural standpoints were only "minor contradiction. " Yet after mid 1950s, in Taiwan the thread from Chinese Communist Regime obviously lessened, and the "minor contradiction" of philosophic and cultural standpoints originally existed between "The Demoratic Review" and "Free China" thus leaped to be the "major contradiction," and therefore, both parties' relationship gradually deteriorated. Moreover, owing to personal conflict among the members of two periodicals, the intense controversy of democracy and tradition exploded finally in late 1950s, resulting in both parties’ formal breakup.