Abstract
The recent hot debate over referendum has opened up a public sphere long missed in Taiwan's political arena. This article probes the dispute by tracing the origins of the issue of referendum over the last decade. The author points out that there is a discursive competition hidden in the referendum movement: "national security discourse" and "social movement discourse." Each represents a different interpretation of Taiwan's political development and advocates different strategies of public involvement. It is argued that the social movement discourse can better push forward critical public forces.