TY - JOUR
T1 - Faction polarization and ideological realignment in South Korea
AU - Lee, Jongkon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by INSTITUTE OF KOREAN STUDIES.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Several studies have emphasized the ideological mismatch between political parties and the mass public in Korea. In spite of party polarization, Korean citizens have tended to be ideologically moderate. This mismatch has been a puzzle, in that ordinary citizens are likely to realign their ideologies following those of political elites. This article provides the key to the puzzle regarding faction polarization in a political party. The intraparty conflicts among political moguls' personal factions rather than inter-party conflicts led to the ideological realignment of Korean citizens. In particular, fierce bilateral confrontation of Liberty Korea Party (LKP) factions has led to faction polarization that increased not only the number of extremely conservative citizens but also that of moderate people. Compared to the LKP, the Democratic Party (DP) was less likely to cause faction polarization, because of multilateral conflicts among small factions, which led to single-peaked ideological realignment at slightly progressive points.
AB - Several studies have emphasized the ideological mismatch between political parties and the mass public in Korea. In spite of party polarization, Korean citizens have tended to be ideologically moderate. This mismatch has been a puzzle, in that ordinary citizens are likely to realign their ideologies following those of political elites. This article provides the key to the puzzle regarding faction polarization in a political party. The intraparty conflicts among political moguls' personal factions rather than inter-party conflicts led to the ideological realignment of Korean citizens. In particular, fierce bilateral confrontation of Liberty Korea Party (LKP) factions has led to faction polarization that increased not only the number of extremely conservative citizens but also that of moderate people. Compared to the LKP, the Democratic Party (DP) was less likely to cause faction polarization, because of multilateral conflicts among small factions, which led to single-peaked ideological realignment at slightly progressive points.
KW - Faction polarization
KW - Ideological realignment
KW - Korean political party
KW - Personal faction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063257428&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.29152/KOIKS.2018.49.1.1
DO - 10.29152/KOIKS.2018.49.1.1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85063257428
SN - 0023-3919
VL - 49
SP - 1
EP - 23
JO - Korea Observer
JF - Korea Observer
IS - 1
ER -