‘Above all, it will boil down to money problems’: The impact of gender-targeted public financing on political parties and women candidates in South Korea

Abstract

This article analyzes the conditions under which gender-targeted public financing can improve gender equality in politics by taking South Korea as an example. The South Korean laws require that 10% of state funds for parties be spent on women’s leadership training. Additional financial subsidies are granted to qualifying parties for subsidizing the campaign of female candidates. Our analysis indicates, however, that the outcome is mixed. Parties’ practices of candidate nomination which have privileged male politicians have not changed. Instead, a large portion of the single-member district seats and public funding regime has facilitated large parties to monopolize additional public funding. This article suggests that the institutional design of public finance, without taking into consideration broader institutional frameworks, could end up reinforcing existing inequality.