Hello all!
I am almost done with my senior thesis about the path to democracy in South Korea. I am at 24 pages and still have a bit more analysis, but I am so happy with my progress.
The above is the timeline I made for my project about the timeline of democracy and negative and positive changes. I have learned so much about Korea and things that make my time there even more special. I think this project can provide me with the closure I need about my time in Korea. I will later post my work on here but for now, it needs lots of editing and love. I will share my intro for now!
South Korea has been known as a divided war-torn country and the first proxy war between Russia and the US. Then later the picture changed and Korea became one of the Asian tigers, being one of the four characterized as top economies in Asia and one of the fastest-growing economies above 7% per year. What is left out of much common knowledge is what happened in the period between. South Korea’s struggle with the democratic transition is not often talked about outside of the country. Democracy is not an easy transition and understanding the path to democracy is not always linear will help apply a personal aspect to theorems in democratization. When thinking of the idealized path for democracy, one may think of the United States and how the desire for freedom and participation in government won a war. Democratic norms were established and written down and thus followed. We also see many democracies that have gone back on their democratic institutions after establishing them. For other countries though, democracy does not come easy, the democratic transition is different in countries that are far in proximity to other democracies, have gone through colonization, lack infrastructure, and other factors may contribute to an unbalanced or partial democracy. Thus this research paper asks the question of why South Korea transitioned to democracy when it did?
This research is significant because it is important to understand the nonlinear path of democratization. Many countries are still fighting for a democracy that suits their needs. In Korea’s case, there was a constitution with a westernized ideal but it fell into military rule and dictatorship for 30 years until the population demanded it to be changed. This shows that democracy might work well on paper, but the circumstances of the country matter more. To observe what caused democratization and critique or expand on democratization theories that put countries into black-and-white boxes where instead my theory is that democratization can also come in waves of democratic backsliding like in the case of South Korea. This case will help us understand, non-Western transitions to democracy as well as a country with a colonized past. Also, a country that is a United States ally and partners with them can be the pros and cons to this relationship and democracy.
I look into the constitutional amendments categorized into positive and negative for democracy. Looking at how the government legitimized its alterations and how the people reacted to these changes. The constitution was changed 9 times overall all during the fight for democracy from 1960-1988. Student movements and mass mobilization appear before each major change in the constitution. My theory is that mass mobilization is the final push toward democracy in each stage. Without mass mobilization, democratic institutions might not have been introduced in 1960 and 1987.