Analyses & Alternatives (분석과 대안)

Korea Consensus Institute(KCI) (사단법인 코리아컨센서스연구원)
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The Lack of Judicial Politics and Challenge of Democracy in Korea

법의 지배와 한국정치학의 빈 구멍

  • Published : 2017.03.31
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Abstract

This paper aims to emphasize the necessity of beginning and developing judicial politics in Korea. Law is constitutive of politics, and judicial politics is vital in understanding how politics is influenced by law. Disappointingly, social science in Korea has not recognized the importance of judicial politics. Judicial branch in Korea does not have the capacity to constrain the executive or other government agencies governed by elected officials. The rule of law does not work. Judicial politics has not yet been introduced in Korea, despite its enormous importance in shaping political economy. The rule of law and courts are believed to be the institutional foundation for economic growth. Law embodied in "no one is above the law" is recognized to provide fairness and stability with a democracy. Little attention to judicial politics results in leaving behind a missing link in a polity. The fortification of the rule of law is necessary to make democracy consolidated in Korea, as shown in impeachment of former president Park Geunhae. A new scholarship in Korea on judicial politics is in need to discuss what conditions under which the rule of law is possible and how to make it sustainable.

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References

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