Constitution and corruption: Semi-presidentialism in Taiwan and South Korea

Taiwan and South Korea have become consolidated democracies as part of the third wave of democratic transition. In the process of their political development, the two countries have, in many respects, been very similar. Yet, in spite of all their similarities, there is evidence showing that Taiwan's democracy has performed better, in particular on corruption, than South Korea's. Why two countries with the same constitutional system, approximate economic scale, and similar cultural background end up with different outcomes on corruption is the major question posed in this dissertation. This dissertation argues that a high degree of presidential legislative power is correlated with higher corruption in semi-presidential countries (ones that have offices of both president and prime minister). More specifically, the study finds a number of differences between the two countries that help account for different performances: the degree of institutionalization of party system and the prevalence of coalition governments or party polarization. First, Taiwan's party system is more institutionalized than South Korea's. Second, in South Korea the process of decision-making in parliament produces more political compromise than the counterpart in Taiwan, because of the existence of coalition governments. Conversely, in Taiwan, the high level of party polarization and existence of minority governments have reduced the occurrence of corruption.; All in all, minority governments are more transparent than coalition governments in terms of the decision-making process in the legislature. Transparency can provide the voters more information to judge or screen unsuitable politicians, helping to limit corruption. Polarized party competition in minority governments can also encourage the ruling and opposition parties to monitor each other or to expose information on corruption. Both parties can go public or appeal to the media if they cannot tolerate the wrongdoings. In sum up, a semi-presidential country with a clear separation-of-powers combats corruption more effectively than one with centralized powers.