Although these two parties, the only legal minority parties at the time, played only a marginal role as "tokens" of democracy under Kuomintang authoritarianism, nonetheless thanks to the idealism of key members like Chiang Yun-tien and Kao Yu-shu, and to popular disaffection with the KMT, the CDSP remained active in local elections and constituted a force outside the KMT.
當時這兩個少數合法的在野黨雖是威權體制下的民主政治「象徵」，不具太大的政治氣候，但因核心人物蔣勻田、高玉樹等人的理念，加上廣大民怨下，民社黨在各地方選舉連連奏捷，匯集成另一股在野力量。