Indigenous political participation in the deliberative systems: the long-term care service controversy in Taiwan

Although research on the deliberative systems has been extensive, relatively little attention has been paid to indigenous deliberation. This article provides an analysis of how indigenous civic organizations use deliberative means to influence the policy decisions pertaining to indigenous lone-term care service and how indigenous deliberation and advocacy has helped in enhancing the deliberative capacity and forming the shared narratives of indigenous groups. Indigenous groups initiated the “grassroots civic forum”, promoted policy storylines, and invited various civic groups that provide multiple care services to share experiences. This enabled them to speak for the needs of indigenous elderly people, initiate dialogue with decision-makers and legislators, and connect with other organizations for advocating policy change. Deliberative forums and indigenous activism contribute to knowledge production and policy shift away from the cultural dominance and urban style of long-term care services towards cogovernance and coproduction of services. It also led to the amendment of the Indigenous Long-Term Care Service Law to better reflects indigenous difference. The continuous political involvement of indigenous organizations in the service policy and cogovernance of long-term care increases the opportunities of equal access to care service resources, which can be seen as the product of deliberation.