• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.71-109
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to find out what factors influence lawmakers' voting decisions in the plenary session. In particular, the study examines causes and characteristics of waffling and strategic waffling, which express opposition or abstention in a discharge petition or a vote at the plenary session despite participating in a bill sponsorship. The study on waffling is meaningful because it has not been covered in previous literatures. To this end, the Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act, which the National Assembly passed in February 2021, was set as an analysis target. The study examined the factors that affected legislators' voting decisions and participation in bill sponsorship and who were related with waffling. Statistical results showed that the age variable influenced the motion of the bill while seniority and party affiliation had an effect on the participation of the bill. Likewise, the study found that party affiliation and district had an influence on the approval of the bill. In addition, the analysis of waffling showed that lawmakers with higher seniority tended not to participate in the vote. It could be interpreted that lawmakers with more legislative experience judged that they would benefit from strategic waffling. There is a limit to understanding lawmakers' decision-making and waffling through a limited analysis of the Gadeokdo New Airport bill. However, given that lawmakers tend to choose avoidance strategies in ambiguous situations, and given the high intelligence of lawmakers who know better than anyone about the future impact of a new bill, the decision-making shown by lawmakers in each stage of the situation is a prudent judgment gained from their experience. It indicates that it is necessary to research the legislative activities of lawmakers in various ways.