From authoritarianism to consolidated democracy in South Korea

This dissertation explains the path of Korea's democratization (from 1979 to 1997) by an approach that combines elite-centered strategic choice theories with structural-institutional explanations. Methodologically, this study utilizes not only documentary materials and previously collected survey data, but also a new data set consisting of the author's interviews with 63 top Korean political elites.; First, this dissertation presents the enduring structural/institutional conditions of Korean politics. These include, among other things, the ideological limitations of Korean politics; the ambiguous constitutionalism; the relatively high political pluralism; hyper-majoritarian political institutions and the highly volatile political parties; the relatively subservient economic actors; and the strong influence of the US. This study argues that the Korean democratization process, seemingly run by a series of elite interactions, was highly embedded in those conditions, which limited the range of alternatives from which to choose and constrained the elite preferences at critical junctures of the regime change.; This dissertation defines the authoritarian Fifth Republic as a 'transient' regime under various institutional constraints. Therefore, a deepening of authoritarian institutionalization was less likely under this regime. Hence, the 1983 liberalization was a natural next step for the regime when it had gained confidence in rule. Rather than strengthening the regime, the decompression, however, brought about the resurrection of civil society and the regime's defeat in the 1985 legislative elections. In response to the opposition's demand for democratization, the regime, in hopes of institutionalizing an extended rule after president Chun, chose to push a constitutional change toward parliamentarianism, but failed because of (a) the skillful opposition leadership commanding the volatile opposition party; (b) the popular opposition to the proposed system; and (c) international factors. Thus, the June 29, 1987, statement to initiate the negotiated transition to democracy was the final choice for a regime elite facing the upcoming end of Chun's tenure, which had been constitutionally mandated by the regime itself.; This dissertation details the distinctive features of the Korean democratic transition the rapid but conservative constitution-making, the apolitical feature of the explosive labor struggles, the limited threat from the Korean military, the split of the opposition, and Roh Tae Woo's election as president. This study argues they were heavily constrained by the historical/institutional conditions. In particular, this study pays attention to the merits and demerits of the path of "negotiated" transition taken by Koreans. This path helped smooth the transition but left a strong continuity with the preceding authoritarian regime in the first democratically elected government.; This dissertation holds the view that the democratic transition in South Korea was complete with the April 1988 National Assembly elections, by which both the new government and the new legislature were established. Constrained by a set of distinctive electoral institutions, the founding elections produced a divided government that helped keep pushing political actors toward cleaning up the authoritarian legacy and building democratic institutions. Together with the new institutions chosen at the time of transition, the prior path of transition, economic prosperity, and the end of the Cold War were the main structural factors overarching the protracted but successful process, led by political actors, to consolidate Korea's nascent democracy. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...