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Some democratization studies suggest that former hegemonic/authoritarian parties should decline and/or whither away once a nation makes the transition toward democracy. Both Mexico and Taiwan made the transition to democracy and, in 2000, former hegemonic political parties in Mexico (PRI) and Taiwan (KMT) lost national power after ruling for several decades. Despite these historic losses, both remain strong political parties in their respective nations. In this paper, we look at hegemonic party reform in Mexico and Taiwan. We begin to examine how these former hegemonic parties have adapted to the new circumstances facing them and explore the variables/mechanisms that have allowed them to remain strong. Both the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) and the Kuomintang (KMT) have always displayed a degree of flexibility, even in the heyday of their hegemony. During the democratic transition period (1980s/1990s), the pace of internal party reform increased in both parties. The reform process became more intensive after 2000. Reforms and/or changes we examine include: how these parties have adapted to losing the national president as the defacto party leader; reforms that change the mechanism for selection of party leaders and candidates for public office; the changing status of sub-national party units; reforms that attempt to bring new members into the party or change the status and/or rules relating to party members; and reforms that result in changes in party ideology. Electoral loss appears to be a key factor that has driven party reform. It does not appear, however, that simply losing elections is the only variable that has led to change. In some circumstances it also seems as if these parties enact reform in order to prevent losing before it occurs, akin to taking “preventive medicine.” Initial indicators are that reform generally helps these former hegemonic parties in the electoral arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]