Institutional Interaction and Strategic Voting in Koreas New Mixed Electoral System

Korea newly adopted a standard mixed electoral system in March 2004, just a month before the 2004 parliamentary election. Using both district and individual level data from the election, this study addresses the issue of institutional interaction or contamination in a mixed electoral system with focus on a third-place party, the Democratic Labor Party. It finds that there is no meaningful effect of institutional interaction between the SMD and PR sections of a mixed electoral system. Even if SMD and PR are put together into a single mixed electoral system, each of the two is found to retain its independent effect on a party system without much confluence. Thus, in the SMD component, we still observe a significant rate of strategic voting and, consequently, a minor political party is penalized in terms of vote share. Meanwhile, the contaminating effect of SMD on PR is only a conditional effect, which is true only if voters hold favorable preferences toward a minor political party in the first place. Otherwise, the putative effect of SMD on PR does not materialize

The Political Origins of Zulu Violence during the 1994 Democratic Transition of South Africa

One of the most interesting cases of the third wave of democratization around the world is that of South Africa in 1994. We have a great magnitude of literature on the South African regime change. Most studies focus on the power struggle between the African National Congress (ANC) and the then governing National Party (NP) or between the Blacks and the Whites or on the type of democratic institutions to be adopted in the post-transitional period. Yet, few have addressed the issue of why the largest black ethnic group of Zulus played a spoiler during the transition to democracy. This study deals with the issue of why many Zulus, represented by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), collaborated with the Whites to wage bloody struggles against other Black brothers, although they themselves had belonged to the repressed in the system of apartheid. This study begins with an introduction to the Zulu ethnic group and its nationalism in order to provide preliminary information about who the Zulus are. This is followed by our explanation for why they were engaged in violent conflicts with the other Blacks

Economic Crisis, Poverty, and the Emergence of Populism in Thailand

Of the three Asian crisis economies that went under the International Monetary Fund (IMF)s stewardship, only Thailand has experienced a populist backlash. This study explores why the country opted for populism in the 2001 general election. It shows that absolute poverty was responsible for the rise of Thaksins populism. In more detail, the so-called Thaksin fever was strongly correlated to the regions post-crisis poverty level, excepting the southern region. This study also tentatively concludes that, even though political variables such as political deinstitutionalization do not explain the establishment of a populist government, they still may explain its absence

A Case Study of India’s Janmabhoomi as Voluntary Adoption of Saemaul Undong

For most developing countries, the most pressing development issue lies in the agricultural sector. This is why more attention should be paid to Saemaul Undong, one of the most successful models of rural development. Despite the recently increased interest in the globalization of Saemaul Undong, Janmabhoomi has barely been known. It is most likely the first ever self-motivated initiative by a foreign government to adopt Saemaul Undong without any financial or logistical assistance from the Korean government. This article is designed to introduce Janmabhoomi to Koreans, compare it with Saemaul Undong in terms of its key features, and provide some policy implications for the globalization of Saemaul Undong