• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.315-333
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• 2014

The study was carried out to analyze election regionalism and to find out the spatial pattern of party support drawn in the 18th general election. Strongly biased pattern found to be caused by party strategies and voting behaviour preferring for the local party. Each party employed the strategies such as tactical and nepotic nomination, regional development pledges, and local instigation of regionalism. In consciousness survey done by the National Election Commission, primarily people tend to choose the representative by his(her) party and secondly, they consider their carrier and occupation. They vote for the same party in the local district and proportional representation. While election regionalism strongly found in voting behaviour of each party's main strongholds based on spatial pattern of major party support, voters of Seoul and Chungbuk tend to vote for their interests due to regional development pledges such as 'Newtown' Development and 'Multifunctional Administrative City' construction.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.385-398
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• 2018

This study aims to explore implications by analyzing voters' behaviors and attitudes of political campaigns & political advertising audience in the 19th presidential election. For this purpose, in-depth interviews with 59 voters who voted in the last election were conducted, and interviewees were allocated by their gender and age. As a result, the motivation to ballot for a candidate was based on the candidates' political affiliations to a party, political inclinations, and election pledges. Voters also determined whom they would vote for after watching the final TV debate. The biggest issue of this election was to create jobs in the public sector, an economical issue. TV was the most trusted medium among the voters, and TV debates had the greatest influence in changing the minds of the voters. Voters thought that Shim, Sang Jung was the best on TV debates and that An, Chul Soo was the worst. Also, voters recalled An, Chul Soo the most among all election posters, but they recalled Moon, Jae In the most out of other political advertisement methods. Therefore, the results elucidated the voters' behaviors and the audience's attitudes in political advertising, and this study provided theoretical and practical implications to be utilized in future presidential election campaigns and political advertising endeavors.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.171-202
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• 2018

Issue ownership concerns a party's issue handling reputation. When a party is perceived to have the best solution for an issue, voters identify the party as the owner of the issue. Extant literature of issue ownership voting shows that voters tend to vote for a party that they identify as the owner of an issue they concern most. That is, the effect of issue ownership on voting is conditioned by the perceived salience of the issue in question. This study investigates another condition of issue ownership voting: i.e. party behavior in election campaigns. It argues that the effect of issue ownership on voting is conditional: it depends on party behavior as well as issue salience. During the campaign in the 2016 legislative election, only the Democratic Party of Korea, the opposition party at that time, actively presented itself as the owner of economic issues. The analysis results of this study show that the identification of the Democratic Party as the economic issue owner affects voting for the party when a voter thinks the economy to be the most important issue. However, the identification of the other parties as the economic issue owner does not affect voting for them under the same condition. The results support the argument that party behavior as well as issue salience are conditions of issue ownership voting.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.79-106
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• 2019

Local governments within the boundaries of a state need increasing flexibility to satisfy diverse economic, social, and environmental goals in their particular geographical setting. However, many candidates in the local election in South Korea tend to see local politics as an extension of national-level politics. In particular, this paper mainly deals with how the voters' evaluation of a president's performance has influenced subnational elections in South Korea. Our analysis suggests that the fate of candidates in subnational elections is shaped by the performance of the incumbent president in both economic development and foreign affairs.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.5-40
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• 2021

In the 4.7 by-election in 2021, the ruling Democratic Party suffered a record devastating defeat, breaking the trend of a post-intermediate evaluation confirmed in the recent election. Why did the Democratic Party lose by a large margin unlike the recent election trend? In order to find answers to these questions, this study analyzes the voting behavior of individual voters based on the voter consciousness survey data conducted after the 4.7 by-election, while examining the background and causes of such voter choices. As a result of the study, in the 4.7 by-election, as confirmed in previous studies, public opinion against the ruling government was strong, and negative elections were held. However, if we look at the process and results of this by-election in more detail, we can see that it is different from the general by-election. In the past by-elections, the government judgement was due to the passive participation of the ruling party-oriented voters in elections with low political weight, or the active judgement psychology that was maximized in situations where the political burden was less. However, in this by-election, on the contrary, in an election with a high political weight, the active judgement psychology of the Democratic Party and non-partisan voters had an effect on strengthening the midterm evaluation character of the election. In addition, it can be seen that the gathering of conservative voters who support the opposition also had a strong influence on the reinforcement of the midterm evaluation character of the election.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.145-156
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• 2011

The study is to analyze voting behaviors revealed through the June 2 local elections, and to learn their implications by exploring and comparing the main factors that influence how to recognize and select a candidate. To achieve this, in-depth interviews have been conducted focusing on those who voted in the last election. The analysis shows that most respondents regard their political tendencies as moderate and make decisions on whom to vote for 2 to 3 days prior to election. It also indicates that what party candidates belong to is the highest motivation in deciding for whom to vote and they generally vote as they believe. According to the study, not only do the poll's results hardly affect their choice of candidates, but also the polls turn out significantly different from the actual results. The great gap between the polls and the actual outcome signifies that how to conduct a poll is wrong and people intend to conceal their opinions. While the media has had a decisive effect on the image of candidates, it is through promotional materials for political campaigns that the candidates' policy is recognized. The study also says that the Four-River is the most influential political issue in election. The study identifies voters' behavior specifically and in depth, and suggests some lessons to make use of for the future elections.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.344-355
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• 2021

As the voting age has been lowered to 18 from the 21st general election on April 15, 2020, the use of political news, motivation for political interest, and reliability of political media of first-time voters were examined. Accordingly, we analyzed how their political efficacy affects their voting intentions. As a result of the study through the survey of participants, the use of political news by voters was to acquire political information mainly through TV and portals. And the use of traditional media such as radio and newspaper was low. first voters became interested in politics through articles delivered by the media, and it was found that they trusted the political information provided through terrestrial TV reports and debates. This generation also confirmed that if they have higher political efficacy, they show higher willingness to participate in voting. Through this study, in order to increase the political participation of the younger generation who are evaluated as having relatively low interest in politics, the role of the media was reconfirmed as the most important factor.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.35-71
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to verify the effect of electoral competition on voters deciding on strategic split-ticket voting under the mixed-member electoral system. As result, the more competitive the constituencies are, the more voters choose to vote for the major parties. The results of logistic regression analysis including interaction terms showed that the more competitive the constituencies are, the more voters choose for candidates from the major parties. Also, the finding shows that major party supporters are less affected by electoral competition than minor party supporters in choosing a candidate in the single-seat districts. In the case of minor party supporters, the more competitive the constituencies were, the more likely they were to choose the major party candidate instead of the minor party candidate. Based on these results, it can be inferred that voters are affected by the presence or behavior of other voters in local constituencies under the first-past-the-post rule. Because of the psychology of not wanting their votes to be useless, voters cast their ballots more strategically as the competition in constituencies intensifies, and as the competition in constituencies slackens, such tendencies weaken, and this trait is particularly evident among minor party supporters.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.135-170
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• 2018

The recent success of populist parties and candidates in the US and European countries leads to a massive amount of empirical research on populism, a deviant form of representative democracy. Much ink has been spilled to define populism and to identify the causes of its rise and continued success in democratic political system. However, little is known about populist attitudes of individual voters. Using a large-scale online survey fielded in the context of the South Korean presidential election in 2017, this study examines (1) what determines populist attitudes of South Korean voters and (2) how populist attitudes are associated with evaluations of political parties, candidates, and political issues. Statistical analysis reveals that people high on populism are more likely to support an underdog left-wing political party and its presidential candidate, and are less likely to support policies implemented or proposed under the auspices of the Park Geun-hye administration. These findings do not necessarily suggest the inherent affinity between populism and left-wing ideology; rather, it implies populist attitudes happened to appear in 2017, in reactions to lack of confidence in the previous government.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.5-40
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• 2021

This study attempts to analyze gender gaps in voter turnout for three different types of elections held since 2017 at the aggregate level using the Central Election Management Commission's turnout data, paying attention to the importance of women's voting. The findings are as follows. First, modern gender gaps in voter turnout at the aggregate level are confirmed in most regions regardless of election types. Second, the gender gap in turnout varies with age. The gender difference is verified in the "widowhood effect," where turnout decreases in the oldest-old. In the new voter group, modern gender gaps appear in most regions. The reversed gender difference in turnout in the late 20s, which reflects the Korean society's characteristics, is confirmed in all elections. Third, it is unclear whether the reverse gender gap in turnout becomes more pronounced in urbanized districts. As urbanization progressed, modern gender differences in voter turnout across age groups are observed at the population-based size level. Paradoxically, the modern gender gap tends to be weak and turns into the traditional gender gap in younger age groups (in the late thirties) in Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, the most modernized districts in Seoul. These results show that the modern gender gap in turnout is now a common phenomenon and continues to be strengthened by newly recruited voters in Korea. Thus we should pay more attention to female voters' political behavior and a new approach beyond the developmental theory to understand the causal mechanism to generate the modern gender gap in voter turnout.