Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T14:42:51.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

SOCIAL NETWORKS AS A POLITICAL RESOURCE: REVISITING THE KOREAN DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2020

Joon Nak Choi  and
Ji Yeon Hong Open the ORCID record for Ji Yeon Hong [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper, we study how political parties react to democratic transitions. We find that the structure of legislators’ social networks plays a critical role in shaping their political interactions during the transition period, and consequently, the post-transition party systems that emerge. We focus on the Korean case, where the incumbent authoritarian party merged with one of its pro-democracy opponents to create a powerful and enduring conservative party under democratic rule. Using a novel individual-level dataset on all legislative members during the transition, we find that the merger was facilitated by dense social networks linking members of the merged parties, which increased trust across the parties and reduced the difficulty of a merger. Conversely, we find that the paucity of ties linking pro-democracy parties hindered their long-term cooperation, despite their shared ideologies and policy goals. The study complements existing theories by providing a network-based explanation for the weakly institutionalized political party system that has characterized Korean politics since democratization.

Keywords

party formationsocial networksdemocratic transitionauthoritarian successor partySouth Korea
Type
Article
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 75 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aldrich, John H. 1995. Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Party Politics in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, Laura W., Deen, Rebecca E., and Patterson, Samuel C.. 2000. “Friendship and Votes: The Impact of Interpersonal Ties on Legislative Decision Making.” State and Local Government Review 32 (2): 142–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, Wayne E. 1990. “Market Networks and Corporate Behavior.” American Journal of Sociology 96 (3): 589–625.10.1086/229573CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batagelj, Vladimir, and Mrvar, Andrej. 1998. “Pajek-Program for Large Network Analysis.” Connections 21 (2): 47–57.Google Scholar
Bélanger, Eric, and Godbout, Jean-Francois. 2010. “Why do Parties Merge? The Case of the Conservative Party of Canada.” Parliamentary Affairs 63 (1): 41–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Budge, Ian, Robertson, David, and Hearl, Derek, eds. 1987. Ideology, Strategy and Party Change: Spatial Analyses of Post-War Election Programmes in 19 Democracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, Ronald S. 1992. Structural Holes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldeira, Gregory A., and Patterson, Samuel C.. 1987. “Political Friendship in the Legislature.” Journal of Politics 49 (4): 953–975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, Chan S., and Chang, Nahn J.. 1994. The Korean Management System: Cultural, Political, Economic Foundations. Westport, CN: Greenwood Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Cheng, Tun-jen. 2006. “Strategizing Party Adaptation: The Case of the Kuomintang.” Party Politics 12 (3): 367–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, Tun-jen, and Huang, Teh-fu. 2018. “Authoritarian Successor Parties in South Korea and Taiwan.” In Life After Dictatorship: Authoritarian Successor Parties Worldwide, ed. Loxton, James and Mainwaring, Scott, 84–112. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cho, Kisuk. 1998. “Regionalism in Korean Elections and Democratization: An Empirical Analysis.” Asian Perspective 22 (1): 135–156.Google Scholar
Choi, Joon Nak, Kang, Myung-koo and Shin, Gi-Wook. 2014. “Democratic Transition and Intra-Party Politics: The Distribution of Key Party Positions in Democratizing South Korea.” The Journal of Korean Studies 19 (1): 2014.Google Scholar
Choinsŭ Inmul Chŏngbo Database. 2005. Retrieved July–August 2005. http://people.joins.com.Google Scholar
Coleman, James S. 1988. “Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital.” American Journal of Sociology 94: S95–S120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cotton, James. 1992. “Understanding the State in South Korea Bureaucratic-Authoritarian or State Autonomy Theory?” Comparative Political Studies 24 (4): 512–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, Gary W. 1997. Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, Larry, Linz, Juan J., and Lipset, Seymour M.. 1989. “Introduction: Politics Society and Democracy in Latin America.” In Democracy in Developing Countries. Vol. 4, Latin America, ed. Diamond, Larry, Hartlyn, Jonathan, Linz, Juan J., and Lipset, Seymour Martin, 1–58. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
Downs, Anthony. 1957. “An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy.” Journal of Political Economy 65 (2): 135–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denver, David T. 1983. “The SDP–Liberal Alliance: The End of the Two-party System?” West European Politics 6 (4): 75–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duverger, Maurice. 1954. Political Parties, Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State, trans North, B. and North, R.. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Fowler, James. 1999. “The United States and South Korean Democratization.” Political Science Quarterly 114 (2): 265–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fruchterman, Thomas M. J., and Reingold, Edward M.. 1991. “Graph Drawing by Force-Directed Placement.” Software: Practice and Experience 21 (11): 1129–1164.Google Scholar
Geddes, Barbara. 1999. “What Do We Know About Democratization After Twenty Years?” Annual Review of Political Science 2: 115–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granovetter, Mark. S. 1973. “The Strength of Weak Ties.” American Journal of Sociology 78 (6): 1360–1380.10.1086/225469CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Granovetter, Mark. S. 1985. “Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness.” American Journal of Sociology 91 (3): 481–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ha, Yong Chul. 2007. “Late Industrialization, the State, and Social Changes: The Emergence of Neofamilism in South Korea.” Comparative Political Studies 40 (4): 363–382.Google Scholar
Harmel, Robert, and Robertson, John D.. 1985. “Formation and Success of New Parties A Cross-National Analysis.” International Political Science Review 6 (4): 501–523.10.1177/019251218500600408CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hix, Simon, Noury, Abdul G., and Roland, Gerard. 2007. Democratic Politics in the European Parliament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong, Ji Yeon and Park, Sunkyoung. 2016. “Factories for Votes? How Dictators Gain Popular Support Using Targeted Industrial Policy.” British Journal of Political Science 46 (3): 501–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hug, Simon. 2001. Altering Party Systems: Strategic Behavior and The Emergence of New Political Parties in Western Democracies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ishiyama, John T. 1998. “Strange Bedfellows: Explaining Political Cooperation Between Communist Successor Parties and Nationalists in Eastern Europe.” Nations and Nationalism 4 (1): 61–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janda, Kenneth. 1980. Political Parties: A Cross-National Survey. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Keller, Franziska B. 2015. “Networks of Power: Using Social Network Analysis to Understand Who Will Rule and Who Is Really in Charge in The Chinese Communist Party.” Working paper.Google Scholar
Kim, HeeMin. 1997. “Rational Choice Theory and Third World Politics: The 1990 Party Merger in Korea.” Comparative Politics 30 (1): 83–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, HeeMin, Cho, Jun Young, and Cho, Jinman. 2008. “Changing Cleavage Structure in New Democracies: An Empirical Analysis of Political Cleavages in Korea.” Electoral Studies 27 (1): 136–150.10.1016/j.electstud.2007.10.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herbert, Kitschelt, Mansfeldova, Zdenka, Markowski, Radoslaw, and Toka, Gabor. 1999. Post-Communist Party Systems: Competition, Representation, and Inter-Party Cooperation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Knoke, David. 1994. Political Networks: The Structural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Korea National Election Commission. 2007. Jungang Seongeo Gwalli Wiwonhoe Seongeo Tonggye Sistem. Retrieved July–August 2007 from http://info.nec.go.kr.Google Scholar
Lee, Sunhwa, and Brinton, Mary C.. 1996. “Elite Education and Social Capital: The Case of South Korea.” Sociology of Education 69 (3): 177–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitsky, Steven, and Way, Lucan A.. 2010. Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levitsky, Steven, and Way, Lucan A.. 2012. “Beyond Patronage: Violent Struggle, Ruling Party Cohesion, And Authoritarian Durability.” Perspectives on Politics 10 (4): 869–889.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lijphart, Arend. 1994. Electoral Systems and Party Systems: A Study of Twenty-Seven Democracies, 1945–1990. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipset, Seymour M., and Rokkan, Stein. 1990. “Cleavage Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignments.” In The West European Party System, ed. Mair, Peter. Oxford: Oxford University PressGoogle Scholar
Lorwin, Val R. 1971. “Segmented Pluralism: Ideological Cleavages and Political Cohesion in the Smaller European Democracies.” Comparative Politics 3 (2): 141–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loxton, James. 2015. “Authoritarian Successor Parties.” Journal of Democracy 26 (3): 157–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marland, Alex, and Flanagan, Tom. 2013. “Brand New Party: Political Branding and the Conservative Party of Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 46 (4): 951–972.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCann, James A. 2015. “Time to Turn Back the Clock? Retrospective Judgments of the Single-Party Era and Support for the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 2012.” In Mexico's Evolving Democracy: A Comparative Study of the 2012 Elections, ed. Domínguez, Jorge I., Greene, Kenneth F., Lawson, Chappell H., and Moreno, Alejandro, 86–106. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Miller, McPherson, Smith-Lovin, Lynn, and Cook, James M.. 2001. “Birds of a Feather: Homophily In Social Networks.” Annual Review of Sociology 27: 415–444.Google Scholar
Michels, Robert. 1915. Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy. New York: Hearst's International Library.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo, Schmitter, Philippe C., and Whitehead, Laurence. 1990. Transitions From Authoritarian Rule: Tentative Conclusions About Uncertain Democracies. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Olson, David M. 1998. “Party Formation and Party System Consolidation in the New Democracies of Central Europe.” Political Studies 46 (3): 432–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Padgett, John F., and Ansell, Christopher K.. 1993. “Robust Action and the Rise of the Medici, 1400–1434.” American Journal of Sociology 98 (6): 1259–1319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, Bae-Gyoon. 2003. “Territorialized Party Politics and The Politics of Local Economic Development: State-Led Industrialization And Political Regionalism In South Korea.” Political Geography 22 (8): 811–839.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Park, Cheol-eon. 2005. A Testimony for the Right History. Seoul: Random House Korea.Google Scholar
Poole, Keith T. 2005. Spatial Models of Parliamentary Voting. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, G. Bingham. 2000. Elections as Instruments of Democracy: Majoritarian and Proportional Visions. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Powell, Walter W. 1990. “Neither Market Nor Hierarchy.” Research in Organizational Behavior 12: 295–336.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert, Leonardi, Robert, and Nanetti, Rafaella Y.. 1994. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Razo, Armando. 2008. Social Foundations of Limited Dictatorship: Networks and Private Protection During Mexico's Early Industrialization. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Republic of Korea National Assembly. 1998. 50th Anniversary Commemorative Volume.Google Scholar
Shepsle, Kenneth A. and Bonchek, Mark S.. 1997. Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behaviour, and Institutions. New York: Norton.Google Scholar
Siegel, Jordan. 2007. “Contingent Political Capital and International Alliances: Evidence from South Korea.” Administrative Science Quarterly 52 (4): 621–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slater, Dan, and Wong, Joseph. 2013. “The Strength to Concede: Ruling Parties and Democratization in Developmental Asia.” Perspectives on Politics 11 (3): 717–733.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strom, Kaare. 1990. “A Behavioral Theory of Competitive Political Parties.” American Journal of Political Science 34 (2): 565–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Studlar, Donley T., and McAllister, Ian. 1996. “Constituency Activity and Representational Roles Among Australian Legislators.” The Journal of Politics 58 (1): 69–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavits, Margit. 2008. “Party Systems in The Making: The Emergence and Success of New Parties in New Democracies.” British Journal of Political Science 38 (1): 113–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsai, Wenpin. 2000. “The Formation of Intraorganizational Linkages.” Strategic Management Journal 21 (9): 925–939.3.0.CO;2-I>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uzzi, Brian. 1996. “The Sources and Consequences of Embeddedness for the Economic Performance of Organizations: The Network Effect.” American Sociological Review 61 (4): 674–698.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Biezen, Ingrid. 2005. “Terrorism and Democratic Legitimacy: Conflicting Interpretations of the Spanish Elections.” Mediterranean Politics 10 (1): 99–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, Michael D., Stovel, Katherine, and Sacks, Audrey. 2011. “Network Analysis and Political Science.” Annual Review of Political Science 14: 245–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yee, Jaeyeol. 2000. “The Social Networks of Koreans.” Korea Journal 40 (1): 325–352.Google Scholar