Chaiotou's populace has never trusted the KMT or central government policy. The profound humanism of many of the dangwai activists involved in the democracy movement also seems to have rubbed off on the township, giving residents a "progressive" air. Lin Ching-yao, who once worked as a secretary to noted dangwai activist Yu Teng-fa, is a case in point.
政治上，橋頭人對國民黨、對中央政府政策始終抱持不信任的態度，而在文化上，由於帶領民主運動的黨外人士當中，許多人本身具備了深厚的人文素養，似乎也帶給了這個小鄉鄉民一點「進步性」，曾擔任黨外前輩余登發秘書的林敬堯就是其中一個代表性人物。