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Research Article

Comparing Korean and Japanese Political Attitudes toward the National Assembly

Kap Yun Lee

Sogang Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University

Published: February 2008 · Vol. 27 No. 1 · pp. 263-290

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33334/sieas.2008..54.267

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Abstract

This paper compares Korean and Japanese political attitudes toward the National Assembly to explain extremely low public confidence in the legislature and to recommend appropriate reform measures. In addition to the marginal role of the Assembly in the legislation process dominated by the bureaucracy and widespread political cynicism in the society, negative perception of the legislature by the public can be attributed to the lack of information about the legislative activities available for the public, incompetence and dishonesty of assemblymen, and excessive partisan struggles within the Assembly. As for legislative reform to recover public confidence, it recommends introduction of electronic assembly to increase public information, revision of committee rules and strengthening of staff organizations, increase of cross-party voting and partisan cooperation and compromise to improve party relations within the Assembly. It concludes with pessimism about the prospect of reform however, because legislative reform cannot be achieved by changes in the legislative alone without concomitant changes in the entire representative democratic process including parties, the electoral system, mass media and the public.
Keywords: LegislaturePolitical TrustRepresentationPolitical ReformInstitutional Confidence