本研究旨在探討，何種情境或者條件之下，得以提升弱勢族群的 政治參與程度？迥異於以往對於族群政治的「社會經濟模型」與「心 理認知因素」解釋途徑，本文嘗試援引「賦權理論」（empowerment theory )爲研究架構，分析2001年縣市長選舉中，客家菁英「政治賦權」（political empowerment )對於客家選民「政治信任」（political trust)與「投票參與」（voting participation )的影響。作者採用 「2001年台灣選舉與民主化調查研究：民國九十年立法委員選舉全國 大型民意調查研究」資料，利用「雙變數交又分析」、「有序勝算對 數模型」（ordered logit model )，以及「勝算對數模型」(logit model )進行檢證。研究結果顯示，「政治賦權」環境故應對於客家 族群的政治參與確實具有相當程度的解釋力。這印證本文所提出的研 究假設：在客家籍縣市首長執政的地區，客家族群的政治信任愈強， 而且其投票參與程度愈高；反之，在閩南與外省籍縣市首長執政的地 區，客家選民的政治信任與投票參與程度較低。結論中，本文摘述研 究要點，並提出未來研究方向與建議。

This study examines the theoretical linkages of political participation of (ethnic/racial) minority groups. Instead of the perspectives of "socioeconomic model" and "psychological factor" developed in preceding literature, this research employs "empowerment theory" of minority politics to account for the levels of political trust and voting participation of the Hakkas in the 2001 county magistrate/city mayoral elections in Taiwan. Using the 2001 Taiwan's Election and Democratization Study (TEDS 2001) survey data, we examine whether the Hakkas in high-empowerment areas -as indicated by control of the local executive-are more active than the Hakkas living in low-empowerment areas; The methodology adopted in this study involves cross-tabulation analyses, ordered logit model, and logit model respectively. As the data show, the contextual effects of "political empowerment" emerge as a statistically significant influence on improving the level of political participation of the minority group. As hypothesized, the results indicate that the Hakkas in high-empowerment areas tend to hold higher levels of political trust and voting participation, and vice versa. In the conclusion, we summarize the major findings and propose some research suggestions for further investigations.