How does party organisation develop beyond clientelism in new democracies? Evidence from South Korea, 1992–2016

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyses the organisational development of political parties in new democracies. In particular, focusing on Korean cases, it extends the existing discussions over party organisation into Asian democracies by examining the ways of overcoming the traditions of clientelism. Employing a dimensional approach, the evaluation relies on three core characteristics of party organisation by utilising a novel source of the official data of party organisation in Korea and a data of the Comparative Manifesto Project. Covering the long-term variations on organisational development, 1992–2018, it finds that Korean parties have experienced the waning power of the Party Central Office and the weakening ties with civil society. Despite these characteristics of development of a cartel-party type organisation, analysis does not confirm the expected of convergence of programmatic appeals between parties. These mixed findings lead to the conclusion that Korean parties have developed toward not a catch-all organisation, but a loosely cartelised organisation.