• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• no.119
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• pp.1-33
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• 2017

This article explore the relation between meritocracy and democracy in the context of South-Korea's confucian modernity. It starts with the confirmation that South-Korea's confucian-meritocratic tradition has positive influence on democracy, in similar way as in the western countries where meritocracy was as a basis for democracy evaluated. But meritocracy has not always the positive implication for democracy. This article shows that meritocracy is in its essence 'an ideology of the betrayal' which destroy the basis of democracy through producing and justifying extreme socio-economic inequalities between citizens. But the long confucian-meritocratic tradition of East Asia makes meritocracy ideology attractive for the people, so even the temptation of the 'political meritocracy' is strong, as we see in Singapore and China. This article argues that the political meritocracy cannot be the alternative of democracy, seeks the different way to overcome the crisis of democracy than meritocracy indicate. Finally, it discusses shortly which implications this sort of relation between meritocracy and democracy for the future of South-Korean democracy can have.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.137-162
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• 2007

In democracy basic rights such as political equality and participation through elections have been respected, opportunities of corporation and opposition have been guaranteed, and ability of self-learning and self-correction have been developed. These positive factors give preconditions for the welfare development in the democratic state. Because in this state adults get the suffrage and the open competition for official positions induces political parties use social policies as means to win the election. That is to say, political parties have an incentive to use various social policies to win the election. Democracy, therefore, has affinity with social policy. The affinity between democracy and social policy can be found also in Korea which was democratized in 1987. But, in Korea, the positive relationship between democracy and social policy is very weak due to the problem of constitutional structures. Korean Parliament usually enacts abstract social act and delegates the right to fill concrete contents of the social acts to the executive. Delegation itself has no problem, but excessive delegation is a problem since the executive can overuse its discretion as sacrificing the social rights of the citizen. In addition social consensus could not be achieved in this constitutional structures, which are a obstacle to establishing a political process in the Parliament to promote the welfare development through party competition. Excessive delegation should be reduced, and the Parliament should fill concrete contents of the social acts as exercising its legislative power more. Then a mechanism of welfare development can be launched in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Philosophical Society
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• v.148
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• pp.49-72
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• 2018

In this paper, I tackle the question as to why the Confucian tradition in East Asia failed to generate democracy. In the first section, I discuss various forms of Confucianism and come up with a most suitable one before I define democracy. I then consider the view that, even though Confucianism, thus defined, had the democratic ideals, it could not generate democracy because it failed to secure democratic institutional structure. I call this view 'No Institutions' View. However, there are two versions of it. First, a thin version of the view holds that the theoretical resources are clearly found in Confucianism yet they failed to provide the democratic institutions. Second, there is the view (a thick version of 'No Institutions' View), according to which the theoretical resources do exist in the Confucian tradition, though only as potentiality and not as a historical reality, and this is why the tradition failed to produce democracy. Third, some hold the view (which I call 'No Ideals' View) that Confucianism simply lacks not only the practical institutions but also theoretical ideals of democracy. In the conclusion, I discuss the reason why I reject these views and offer my own view. In particular, I offer a hybrid view concerning the relationship between Confucianism and democracy.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.161-196
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• 2018

The major object of this study is to analyze the political development of Myanmar's civilian government on the concept of defective democracy, and to investigate the main actors who delayed or stymied political development and their interrelation. In doing so, this study suggests the tasks required for political development overcoming the current political structure and behavior. The civilian government, which was launched in 2016, failed to achieve positive political development by following the behavior of military authoritarianism in terms of exercise of power and decision making structure. On the perspective of the government, delegative democracy and domain democracy have been strengthening since one person has taken over all political power and hesitate to take horizontal accountability for each power organizations. The military, which is responsible for national defence and security seeks illiberal democracy and exclusive democracy, keeping on an undemocratic constitution by the military and Burman ethnocentrism. The reasons why defective democracy has been occurred are that the lack of a group to run a democratic institutions and the limitation of power structure that fails to adhere to the principle of civilian control to the military due to long-term military rule. Therefore, there is a need for military's come back to barracks and transform the power structure to democratic of the civilian government which is tamed an authoritarian order for the political development in Myanmar. In order to achieve this, this study concludes that setting up a empowered democratic government is required.

• 사회경제평론
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.107-145
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• 2018

This paper presents that in the Russian Revolution 1) socialist and alternative democratic conceptions between Marx and Lenin are very different, 2) the process and cause of failure of realizing Lenin's democratic alternative conception, 3) the interactive expansion process of the party and the state, 4) the failing process of socialist original accumulation, collectivization, and constructing planned economy. This shows that Russia could not help fail to transit to socialist society due to the combination of wrong conceptions and that new revolution and construction should combine right socialist and democratic conceptions.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.83-116
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• 2011

선거운동에 있어서 자유와 공정은 선거과정의 민주적 품질을 가늠하는 핵심적 가치이다. 선거과정에서 자유와 공정이 충분히 보장될 때, 유권자와 후보자 간의 역동적이며 설득적인 커뮤니케이션이 가능하다. 이 점에서 한국 선거운동의 민주적 품질은 아직 낮은 상태에 머무르고 있다. 한국의 선거법은 대단히 규제 중심적이며, 이는 과거 부정선거 및 타락선거의 경험에서 비롯된다. 하지만 선거환경은 빠르게 변화하여 왔다. 유권자의 선거문화 및 의식수준이 크게 개선되었으며, 인터넷의 확산은 더욱 능동적이고 참여적인 유권자를 탄생시키고 있다. 선거환경의 변화는 규제 중심적 선거규칙의 변경을 요구하고 있다. 하지만 선거운동의 민주적 품질은 법제도적 개선만으로 향상되는 것은 아니다. 선거경쟁의 장에서 공명정대한 관리자로서 선관위의 위상정립과 더불어, 유권자들의 건전한 선거문화의 형성을 위한 끊임없는 노력이 함께 병행될 때 비로소 선거운동을 둘러싼 민주적 품질의 실질적 향상이 성취될 수 있을 것이다.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.79-97
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to analyze the democratic civic competencies of the activity tasks in 'the Family Life' part in Middle School Technology Home Economics textbooks according to the 2015 revised national curriculum. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, the activity tasks of six types of middle school Home Economics textbooks (for a total 12 of volumes) were analyzed. As a result, the use of the citizenship competency group was the most often recorded out of the three democratic civic competency groups and the subset of trust and value competencies also were frequently observed. Additionally, democratic civic competency was the seen most within the 'human development and family' area by the national curriculum, and showed the highest frequency in big idea, 'the relationship'. Activity tasks in the 'KH' textbooks were dealing with democratic civic competency the most. Based on the relationship between Home Economics education and democratic civic competencies, it is necessary to study the practice of classroom instruction so that students can develop democratic civic competence in 'the Family Life' by means of a Home Economics curriculum.

• Korean Journal of Labor Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-28
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• 2018

This paper studies and evaluates the present situation of three decades of 'Minjoonojoundong' in Korea with a long-term perspectives. It had grown up during 1987 labour regime era and has declined abruptly since 1998. The backdrop of this decline was the transformation of labour regime from the 1987 regime to the dependent neoliberal one. The Korean labour movement did not respond to the changed structural conditions as it sustained its old strategies, militant unionism. Now the 'Minjoonojoundong' in Korea has met three difficult problems that are connected with each others. They are militant economism, political economism and formal industrial unionism. However the 'Candlelight Revolution' occurred in 2016 winter has opened a chance of regime change that could strengthen the 'Minjoonojoundong'. The revolution was primarily a political one. But it also created a dramatic situation change in labour politics. The candle-citizen demanded radical change of the polarized Korean society and overflown contingent workers. So it is a time of radical and overall innovation for the 'Minjoonojoundong' and KCTU. And they have to keep the long-term strategical vision of labour regime change.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.2971-2982
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• 2012

This study aimed at analyzing teachers' perception of democratic civic education. A total of 200 childcare teachers participated in the survey, and frequency analysis and cross-tabulation analysis were performed to analyze the survey data. According to the results of the study, first, the childcare teachers were significantly different in the teachers' factors on necessity and difficulty of democratic civic education. The childcare teachers perceived the necessity of democratic civic education, and attributed the cause of the difficulties in democratic civic education to parents' attitudes. Second, there weren't significant differences in the teacher's factors on the content and methods of democratic civic education. Therefore, in this study, it is emphasized that democratic civic education is related to young children's homes and communities, and reorganization of democratic civic education programs based on development of young children is suggested.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.45
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• pp.121-153
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• 2015

Struggles to gain acknowledgement of identity have a characteristic of movement to recover human dignity. Participants in this movement come to confirm themselves as the subject of rights and communicate one another, free from oppression. Being guaranteed the opportunity to participate in the public opinion formation process is an indispensable element of human rights. In 1980, though it was short and incomplete, Gwangju experienced communal autonomy under the condition that state power was temporarily stopped. The contents and memories of the Gwangju Democratization Movement that intended to protect autonomy of civil society, resisting pillage of state power, remain intact in the 1980 Archives for the May 18th. The 5.18 archives were registered in UNESCO's Memory of the World in 2011, with its value of human rights and protection of democracy being acknowledged. The 5.18 archives have memories of resistance and struggles for justice, and sacrifices and pains of citizens under oppressive political authority in Gwangju, 1980. Thus, these archives are related to the historical struggles for democracy, and suggest a lesson on the transition process towards democracy to us. Preservation and utilization of the documentary heritage constantly lead the memories of historical events to the present, and enable exchanges of experiences and ideas between the present and the future. This study, through the process of UNESCO's Memory of the World registration and post-registration process, beyond the value of archives, tries to examine how historical events are led to the present, through the archives and to discuss the other values of archives.