Voters and Parties in Local Elections: 1995-2006

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The revival of local autonomy in the wake of democratization was con-ceived to signal a potentially successful decentralized democracy inKorea. However, in reality, almost half of all eligible voters have notvoted in local elections, indicating a lack of interest in local politics,and this has often been cited as evidence of an ongoing crisis in grass-roots democracy. It is also constantly pointed out that political partiesat the national level have been deeply involved in the local electoralprocess, and thus national politics have often overshadowed local elec-tions. This routine has raised concerns regarding the health of localpolitics.The purpose of this paper is to explain the characteristics of localKorean politics from 1995 to 2006 by focusing on voter participationand party involvements in local elections. This paper also analyzes theelectoral cleavages in voter turnout as well as party support. In addi-tion, the implications of these findings and current issues on autonomyin relation to local politics will be discussed.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 to a large extent, "there is the prospect that local governments will serve as apipeline into the national political arena because the nomination process for national seats is geared towardlocal public opinion We can find some evidence that candidate nom-ination processes are becoming more democratic and transparent"

2 "still in an infantile stage has not yet attained the desired level of full autonomy over the past few years have gained slow butsteady control in political and economic spheres As devolutionbecomes an important national agenda the prospects for local auton-omy are expected to be bright Expansion of autonomy would invigo-rate local politics local elections will be held for the sake of local interests"

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