Korea’s Democratization

From the publisher’s website:

The Republic of Korea is regarded as a shining example of democracy in East Asia. Despite this significant achievement, Korea’s democracy in practice has been plagued by political gridlock, severe factional infighting, a lack of social capital and cooperation between civil society and political institutions, and leadership behavior that calls to mind its authoritarian past. Although the country is now a secure electoral democracy, its journey toward democratic consolidation is far from complete. In this volume, some of the best scholars on Korean politics explore and assess the complex interplay of the facilitating and inhibiting factors that have influenced and reshaped Korea’s democratic consolidation process at all levels of state and society, as well as the prospects for consolidation in the coming years.

• Focus on Korea’s democratic consolidation
• A multidimensional and multilevel analysis
• Primary attention to the developments from 1993–2001

Contents

Part I. A Framework of Analysis:

1. Korea’s democratization in the global-local nexus – Samuel S. Kim

Part II. Consolidation at the Mass Level:

2. Mass politics, public opinion, and democracy in Korea – Doh Chull Shin

Part III. Consolidation at the Civil Society Level:

3. Civil society in democratizing Korea – Sunhyuk Kim
4. Redrafting democratization through women’s representation and participation in the Republic of Korea – Seungsook Moon
5. Korean nationalism, anti-Americanism, and democratic consolidation – Katharine H. S. Moon

Part IV. Consolidation at the State Level:

6. Regional politics and democratic consolidation in Korea – David C. Kang
7. Crafting and consolidating constitutional democracy in Korea – Jeong-Ho Roh
8. Security and democracy in South Korean development – Victor Cha
9. The developmental state and democratic consolidation in South Korea – C. S. Eliot Kang