The Quality of Democracy in Korea: Three Decades after Democratization

Description

This edited volume assesses the quality of democracy in the Republic of Korea three decades after its formal democratization in 1987. It has been argued that Korea’s two subsequent power turnovers prove that its democracy has been successfully consolidated, despite its tremendous progress; however, recent developments show signs of deterioration and retreat. Therefore, drawing on the recent quality of democracy literature this volume sets out to answer the question: Where does Korea’s democratic quality stand today? The three chapters in first section of the book focus on aspects related to the presidency, political parties, and organized labor, also including the perspective of governance and human security as well as on the rule of law regarding the role and function of the prosecution. This is followed by a set of four chapters in section two that address the dimensions of democratic quality such as participation, freedom, equality, and responsiveness. The final, third section includes contributions on related inter-Korean policy issues. This book is an invaluable resource for political and social scientist working on democratic quality, and at the same for scholars in Asian or Korean Studies at faculty level as well as on graduate student level. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: The Quality of Democracy in Korea (Hannes B. Mosler, Eun-Jeung Lee, Hak-Jae Kim)....Pages 1-23 Front Matter ....Pages 25-25 Korean Democracy in a Hyper-Centralized State (Jang-Jip Choi)....Pages 27-49 Human-Centered Challenges to Korean Democracy (Brendan Howe)....Pages 51-72 Democratic Quality and the Rule of Law in South Korea: The Role of Public Prosecution (Hannes B. Mosler)....Pages 73-120 Front Matter ....Pages 121-121 The Progress of Human Rights and the Quality of Democracy in South Korea (Hyo-Je Cho)....Pages 123-145 Inequality and the Quality of Democracy in South Korea: Public Opinion and Electoral Politics, 1997–2012 (Jin-Wook Shin)....Pages 147-173 A Dualized Democracy? The Labor Market, Welfare Policy, and Political Representation in Korea (Hak-Jae Kim)....Pages 175-205 Democracy Without Workers: The “Work Society” in Korea After Democratization (Su-Dol Kang)....Pages 207-236 Front Matter ....Pages 237-237 Plus ça Change? South Korea’s Democratization and the Politics of the Cold War (Kevin Gray)....Pages 239-260 Dealing with Unification: The Politics of Fear (Eun-Jeung Lee)....Pages 261-275 Authoritarian Continuity or Democratic Change? Assessing the Democratic Quality of South Korea’s North Korea Policy-Making Process (Eric J. Ballbach)....Pages 277-304 Conclusion (Hannes B. Mosler, Eun-Jeung Lee, Hak-Jae Kim)....Pages 305-319 Back Matter ....Pages 321-327