| |
| author |
Jeehae Park
| | title |
Hwaiting! South Korea's Struggle with Democracy
| | abstract |
South Korea had a tumultuous journey toward democracy and struggles with support for
democracy today. Its support for democracy is drastically lower than that of other comparable
democratic societies, even though there is strong support for the government. This research is
guided by the question, why does South Korea have low and declining support for democracy?
Upon analysis of World Values Survey Wave 7 results and dominant theories in the literature
(emancipative values theory, East Asian values theory, and democratic consolidation theory), I
argue that the democratic consolidation theory emerges as the clear theory that helps explain and
understand the South Korean case because of its emphasis on institutional development. I further
argue that political parties and their institutionalization are vital to democratic transitions because
they educate the public and model what democracy is. Thus, Koreans have been unable to create
partisan and ideological identities without proper democratic education. I conclude that South
Koreans have never known what a true liberal democracy should look like and therefore do not
know what to make of it. This lack of a true liberal democracy comes from the fact that Korea
never fully consolidated, and its frequent instances of corruption seem like features of a
functioning democracy rather than indicators of an incomplete democracy. Therefore, Koreans
do not have a clear view of what democracy is and do not support what they know as
"democracy". Additionally, South Korea experienced an anticlimactic transition from
authoritarianism to democracy in the form of a presidential election in 1987. This failed to create
a vibrant culture of democracy or encourage democratic values.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2023)
|
| advisor |
Dr. Jason Jordan
|
| committee |
Dr. Mengxiao Phoebe Tang
Dr. Karen Pechilis
|
| full text | JPark.pdf |
| |
