Inequality, the welfare system and satisfaction with democracy in South Korea

Abstract

In an emerging democracy one of the most important components of democratic consolidation is the public’s attitude toward democracy. In this regard, emerging democracies in the East Asian region pose an interesting puzzle, because satisfaction with democracy is higher in authoritarian countries than in democratic countries. Scholars have praised Korean democracy as a miraculous case due to its successful democratic consolidation. Paradoxically, Korean democracy has shown weakness in dealing with rapidly increasing inequality after the International Monetary Fund economic crisis of 1997 and Korean citizens’ satisfaction with democracy has eroded. How does one explain these perplexing results? The empirical findings of this study indicate that citizens’ concerns about rapidly increasing inequality and dissatisfaction with the welfare regime were significantly related to their level of satisfaction with democracy. These results suggest that new democracies faced with similar economic challenges need to respond more competently to citizens’ demands for effective policy performance in order to achieve unwavering support for democracy.