臺灣在五、六零年代硬性威權初期，國民黨政府實施有限民主統治，維持政權合法地位，在省議會體制納入黨外菁英，使得該時期的有限民主運作，表現得相當具有政治反對勢力與當權對抗的張力。省議會作為省級最高民意機關，具「櫥窗民主」的意涵，國民黨政府基於允諾民主憲政的原則，透過選舉延攬以本土知識份子為主軸的黨外省議員，這些省議員不屬於國民黨系統的政治菁英，當時以「黨外」稱之，他們象徵體制內的政治反對勢力，巔峰時期主要以「五龍一鳳」為縮影。黨外省議員被納入黨國威權的體制內之後，利用省議會為論政平臺，扮演近距離監督政府的功能，將議壇發展為公共場域，試圖衝破政治社會的文化領導權。這種特殊的政治生態實起因於有限民主的機制，這使得原本權宜制衡的省議會逐漸發展成雙面性質的定位：一、黨外菁英雖在體制內蘊釀政治訴求，但由於省議會本身是黨國政治控制的權宜建制，即使黨外就近抗爭當權，卻受限於強大的宰制，省議會機制反而冷卻了政治反對可能帶來無法控制的激情。二、省議會讓黨國威權在此機制的護航下，得以緩和與遲滯威權立即崩垮的危機。整體而言，省議會黨外菁英在臺灣硬性威權時期，激揚出早發的民主政治精神，但是政治效益並非即時的，而是傾向象徵與延展特徵的民主政治意義。

Taiwan under the rule of the KMT administration during the hard authoritarian period was characterized by limited democracy that helps secure regime legitimacy. The Provincial Council, including its councilors elected, was the most typical mechanism of limited democracy until the 1960s. As the supreme legislative body at the provincial level, it connoted “a showcase of democracy” in which, with the regime’s acquiescence to democratic constitutionalism, the local intellectuals brought in through elections became the councilors entitled Tang-Wai, who were political elites symbolizing the opposition without being affiliated with the KMT. Among such elites, the story of “Five Dragons and One Phoenix” is the epitome reflecting the confrontation between the ruling party and the opposition at that time. The Tang-Wai councilors took the Council as a platform by which they could speak for the people and argue against the government. They sprouted democratic politics, developed the platform as a field for the public, and attempted to subvert the established cultural leadership in social political networks. The Provincial Council, definitely a political arena de facto, to a certain degree was an expedient and convenient mechanism making Tang-Wai’s voices heard. It subtly brought about two phenomena. On one hand, potentially uncontrollable political passions caused by opposition advocacies were discouraged within the regulatory framework. On the other hand, the KMT regime, sheltered by such mechanism, was able to ease and postpone its crisis of legitimacy. By and large, during Taiwan’s hard authoritarian period, the democratic utility produced by Tang-Wai elite councilors is not an instant result but a symbolic and enduring spirit of democratic politics.