The Challenges of Democratic Consolidation & De-Legitimization Politics in South Korea

1. The Challenges of Democratic Consolidation & De-Legitimization Politics in South Korea Young Whan Kihl 2009-10 Visiting Scholar at APARC Stanford University

2. Why Ideas & Institutions MatterinKorean Politics? Young Whan Kihl

3. Ideas Matter in Politics, How and Why? • Because they are often a determinant of public policies. • Historically, a certain set of ideas have led to “new thinking” which, in turn, • Acted as a catalyst for initiating drastic socio-economic and political changes for -- a community of people, nation, and the world at large. -- J. Goldstein and R. Keohane, eds, Ideas and Foreign Policy, 1993

4. Transformative Ideas, What and Why? • Ideas are “transformative” when • They become provocative by enticing leaders and elites to seek for a change in institutions (as happened in Korea’s recent history). • Several key ideas (like M, D, and G) have come to shape the system of beliefs and attitudes of the people. • Ideas can also become proactive by giving an alternative scenario that people come to desire for the future.

5. Impact of Ideas on Korean Politics • The new notions of “Democracy and Prosperity” arose to capture the national imagination and to become the primary concern of the government leadership. • The idea of Modernization inspired the soldiers-turned-politicians to initiate a program of socio-economic development through industrialization. • The Democratization idea came to fruition in the late 1980s. • The impacts of the world economy and the forces of Globalization also came to overtake Korea by 1997.

6. Modernization Ideas • Modernization, a historical process begun in Western Europe, entails humanity’s rapidly increasing control over the forces of nature. • Ideals associated with modernization include rationality, development, the rise of productivity, social equality, political democracy, etc. • Modernization does not necessarily mean Westernization because non-Western societies can also modernize “without abandoning their own culture…”

7. Democratization Ideas • Democracy =/= Democratization • Democratization is about the process of how to move authoritarian politics into democratic politics. It entails • several steps: 1. Decay of authoritarian rule (via liberalization), 2. Authoritarian withdrawal and democratic transition, 3. Democratic consolidation, and 4. Maturing of democratic political order.

8. Globalization Ideas • Globalization? Many meanings and usages: • It is an “Integration of capital, technology, and information across national borders, in a way that is creating a single global market and, to some degree, a global village.” -- T. Friedman, 1999. • As such, globalization exhibits varying socio- economic and political dimensions with drastic consequences. • Is globalization a threat or an opportunity? It all on the leadership and entrepreneurship.

9. Ideas, Institutions & Interests all matter • “Ideas and interests” play a major role in the social life… Interests are the engine of human action (yet,) … ideas define the destination … and the means for getting there.– Max Weber • “Culture Matters” by providing values that shape human progress. -- Harrison & Huntington, 2000 • State and Society are shaped not only by an interplay of these ideas, but also by their interaction with the cultural norms. • South Korea is a post-Confucian society, the one with Confucian ideology in the historical past.

10. Ideas, values & culture are,therefore, interactive • They are all interrelated and mutually reinforcing. • The Choson Korea (1392-1910) adopted Neo-Confucianism as an official ideology. • Confucian norms and values (such as emphasis on loyalty, hierarchy, learning, and work ethics) are not necessarily in conflict with the ideas of Modernization and Democratization.

11. “Identity” also Matters in Korean Politics • Contemporary Koreans are known for upholding a strong sense of group identity, as manifest in the search for “ethnic” nationalism based on a shared bloodline and ancestry. --Gi-Wook Shin, 2005: 223. • This belief in Korea’s racial homogeneity is a myth, however, that is “constantly challenged and contested,” requiring a new “reformulation.” • Makes a plea for a greater “democratic” national identity, with mutual tolerance, pluralism, diversity, equality, flexibility. • Is “Going Beyond the Nation-State” feasible and a remedy in North East Asia, as in Europe?

12. Table B-1. Freedom House Index scores on Electoral Democracy for South Korea and Selected East Asian Countries __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Country 1985 1990 1995 2000 2007 _______________________________________________________________________ South Korea 4.4 (4/5) 2.5 (2/3) 2 (2/2) 2 (2/2) 1.5 (1/2) Japan 1 (1/1) 1 (1/1) 1.5 (1/2) 1.5 (1/2) 1.5 (1/2) Taiwan 5 (5/5) 3 (3/3) 3 (3/3) 1.5 (1/2) 1.5 (2/1) Thailand 3.5 (3/4) 2.5 (2/3) 3.5 (3/4) 2.5 (2/3) 5 (6/4) Indonesia 5.5 (5/6) 5.5 (6/5) 6.5 (7/6) 3.5 (3/4) 2.5 (2/3) Vietnam 7 (7/7) 7 (7/7) 7 (7/7) 6.5 (7/6) 6 (7/5) North Korea 7 (7/7) 7 (7/7) 7 (7/7) 7 (7/7) 7 (7/7) __________________________________________________________________ Notes: Values of “political rights” and “civil liberties” are shown separately in parentheses. Sources: Freedom House, “Freedom in the World 2008 Survey: Global Freedom in Retreat,” Washington, DC (2008). www.freedomhouse.org (accessed May 1, 2008).

13. The Global Political Economy& the Korean State • South Korea, since 1987, has been in an “Era of Democratic Transition and Consolidation.” • How to Reconcile dual forces of Democratization and Globalization demands, via an effective and efficient leadership, remains a challenge. • The “Unraveling of Korea’s Miracle Economy” by revisiting East Asian Miracle thesis? • Is “Sustaining Democracy through EconomicReform” possible & appropriate as responses to Globalization effects?

15. Idea types and pathways • Ideas are held as a set of beliefs by individuals who participate in the policy making process of a society either as leaders or as ordinary citizens. • Modernization is a set of “worldviews” providing “road maps” and pathways for the Korean state to traverse. • Democratization is a set of “principled beliefs” inspiring Koreans to direct their attention “toward coordination in the absence of unique equilibria” in society. • Globalization provides “causal beliefs” for needed institutional change and reform of the Korean state.

16. Rabindranath Tagore’s Song to Korea Let me close the first half of my talks with an inspiring poem by Tagore, a Nobel laureate In “the Golden Age of Asia,” Korea was one of its lamp-bearers, And that lamp is waiting To be lighted again For the illumination of the East -- Rabindranath Tagore Dong-A Ilbo, March 28, 1929

17. De-Legitimization Politics & the Post-Election Lee Myung-Bak Administration: A Case Study Young W. Kihl Professor of Political Science Emeritus, Iowa State University. Currently, Stanford University, APARC, visiting scholar

18. Can We Say SK today is afully Consolidated Democracy? • My answer is that Democratization is an on-going process of political change. Hence, it is a judgmental call and both “pro and con” views can be given. • The challenge lies in consolidating its democratic gains and building durable political institutions. • This will require full compliance with democratic norms by all the major political forces & interest groups in civil society. • This on-going quest for democracy has not been easy for Korea’s Sixth Republic.

19. A “Developmental Theory” Perspective on Democratic Consolidation • Democratization is a type of political change. • Democracy does not require pre-requisites, however. • Why notrectify a mistaken notion of earlier scholarship? (e.g., Seymour Lipset) • Democracy can be seen everywhere “as a work in progress, evolving at different rates, in different ways and forms, in different countries.” -- Larry Diamond, Developing Democracy toward Consolidation, 1999

20. Post-election politics ofthe Lee MB Administration • Reflections on the Lee’s CEO Presidency • Analysis of Lee’s “CEO” Style of Presidency • Lee’s conservatism • Lee’s pragmatism • Lee’s Leadership Performance • Lee’s Crisis Management Style • “Vox Populi and Pacta Sund Servanda” Tradeoffs

21. The 2008 NA Election Results by Political Parties & the Parliamentary Seats Table 9.1. The Result of the Eighteenth National Assembly Election, 4/2008 Grand National Party (GNP) 153 (131 + 22)* United Democrats Party (UDP) 81 ( 66 + 15) Liberty Forward Party (LFP) 18 ( 14 + 4) “Pro-Park Coalition” 14 ( 6 + 8) Democratic Labor Party (DLP) 5 ( 2 + 3) Renewal of Korea Party (RKP) 3 ( 1 + 2) Independents 25 ( 25 + 0) ______________________ Total 299 (245 + 54) * The first column is the total number of seats allocated; the second column is the number of districts won; the third one is the number of additional seats allocated (at-large delegates) based on the total number of “Proportional Representation Votes” each party received). These results of the distribution of seats in the 299-seated National Assembly shows that the ruling GNP has won the general election but only with a slim majority of 3 votes to spare with. This will mean that the Lee Myung-Bak government will require support by other rival parties and/or splinter party factions to be safe for future legislative enactments.

22. “Institutions Matter” in Politics. How and Why? • A state-society relationship in “democratic” South Korea needs not be a “zero-sum” game, despite its legacy of “a strong state and an activated civil society” in the past years. • Civil-society activism is the key to asuccessful democratic consolidation. Yet, • Civil-society engagement is a “necessary, but not sufficient,” condition for advancing the cause of democracy. • Building Social Capital is not easy, but it is a key to making democracy work. -- Putnam, 1993, 1998.

23. The Challenge of Political Institution Building • Institutions, by definition, are regularized pattern of human behavior in society, that has become “stable and predictable” over time. • The challenge for Korean democracy lies in building institutions that will endure and be valuable beyond the tenure of any single elected president. • This can be done by ways of “deepening and acquiring maturity” of political institutions via upholding “the rule of law” and democratic norms.

24. The Civil Society Activism in South Korea: An Analysis • The participatory role of the civil society groups in presidential election politics has varied over time. The Q is “How & Why?” • From “Protest” to “Advocacy” role? • 1987 eg. KCCM (Siminhyop), CCEJ (Kyongsilyon) • 1992 eg. CCFE (Kongsonhyop) • 1997 eg. NGOs activism • 2002 eg. Netizens (386 generation), Nosamo • 2007 eg. ?

25. The Civil Society Group Activism: ACase Study • The central role of civil society activism in each of the three democratic junctures: 1956-1961, 1973-1980, 1984-1987 had varied. --Sunhyuk Kim 2000. • It’s role in the 1997 and 2002 elections? • It’s role in the 2007 election was less visible. • Why were some NGOs more visible, while others “less & dormant” throughout the 2007 Presidential election campaigns? • Why were they more active, however, during the Summer 2008 firestorm over anti-US Beef import rallies? It requires an explanation!

26. Democratization via De-legitimization Challenges? • My Hypothesis is: • The “Legitimization Challenges” were posed by certain civil society groups,that may have risked the danger of “De-Democratization” forSK’s Sixth Republic. • “How & Why” was this intended by the opposition political forces in the summer of 2008? • The Campaigns Against the Lee MB Admin did not succeedin the end, however.

27. The 2008 Anti-Lee MB Rally and Firestorms: a Lesson? • The Candle-light vigil and anti-US beef import rally, May 2008, turned into a nation-wide protest on • June 10, in commemoration of the 21st anniversary of the Pro-democracy Movement of 1987. This time, it was • Led by an NGO called “People’s Association for Measures Against Mad Cow Disease.” • Did Lee MB commit an impeachable crime, as alleged by an advocacy group? Some say no. • Who empowers an NGO to challenge the newly constituted Lee MB government?

28. Democratization via De-legitimization Politics? • The “legitimization challenges” were posed by certain civil society groups, but it may also have risked the danger of “de- democratization” of SK’s Sixth Republic. • This was intended by the opposition political forces, including some newly elected NA members, in the summer of 2008. • The campaign against the Lee MB Admin, however, did not succeed in the end.

29. Democracy and De-Democratization Politics • Charles Tilly, Democracy (2007), raises the possibility for “Reversal” and “De- democratiz(ing) regimes” (as happened to Russia’s new democracy under Putin). • “Integration of trust networks (into public politics)” and “Reduction of autonomous powercenters” will combine to cause Democratization, says he. Yet, • “Reversal” of any of these processes… leads to “De-democratiz(ing) regimes.” p.188.

30. Conclusion: Why NotRepair Linkage Failures? • Organizationally, an NGO tried to replicate the role similar to political parties. Yet, it’s massive anti- government street protest campaigns, with an opposition party boycotting the National Assembly attendance, did back fire. • Any lesson?: A high price to be paid for its political de-alignment & linkage failures with a wavering grassroots support. • NGO needs to cut-off a patron-client tie, and a cozy close relationship, with the central government. • Why not stay as an autonomous organization? Don’t seek financial support from the government, like political parties relying on party subventions in SK today.

31. Figure 10-3. A Developmental Model (with Five Dimensions) of Democracy 1. Economic Development: via Growth Dynamism 2. Social Development : via Mobilization, with Trust & Social Capital, Civil Society Activism 3. Political Development: via Political Order and State Building 4. Democratization: via Democratic (a) Opening, (b) Transition, (c) Consolidation, (d) Institution-Building 5. Political Culture: The Rule of Law (not the Rule by Men) traditions Sources: Adapted, with modification, from Fukuyama. 2009: 63, 55-74. -- Francis Fukuyama, “Reconceptualizing Democracies and Empowering Them to Deliver.” In Alexander T.J. Lennon et. al., Democracy in U.S. Security Strategy: From Promotion to Support, Washington, D.C., CSIS (Council on Strategic and International Studies), March 2009, pp. 55-74, 63.