Research

[Political elites, who shape the fundamental pillars of the state, are becoming increasingly divided. Some advocate democratic ideals and inclusive institutions, while others are resolutely devoted to autocratic governance. What originates these fundamentally opposed ideological commitments? This paper examines the long-term influence of early-life exposure to the pro-democracy movement on shaping collective identity and fostering a commitment to democratic governance among political elites. We focus on the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident in Taiwan—a historic event in which peaceful demonstrations turned into violent suppression. Using a triple-differences design combined with a Natural Language Processing approach, we find that legislators who were in their formative years and born in Kaohsiung at the time of the Incident more consistently suggest and support democracy-oriented legislation. Furthermore, we develop a novel method of text-based identity detection and find that these political elites internalize a Taiwanese national identity that is closely associated with democratic values. Our findings suggest that localized movements and shared narratives can foster a national identity that, in turn, reinforces ideological commitments, shaping policymaking and helping societies uphold democratic norms.]