Dynamics of citizen - participatory nomination process in Korea: case of the 2002 presidential election

Abstract

This paper explores the dynamics of the nomination process to select presidential candidates of two major parties in Korea. In the 2002 presidential election. for the first time. two Korean major parties introduced the citizen-participatory nomination system that is similar to American presidential primaries. Although there has been pros and cons about the new system, it is generally expected that the citizen-participatory nomination system would contribute to the intra-party democracy and participatory democracy in Korea. The citizen- participatory nomination system encouraged the participation of the general public who were non-party members as well as some party members who had shown low participation in the nomination process of presidential candidates. The increased participation activates the democracy at the institutional level as well as behavioral level and ultimately leads to the participatory democracy. Nevertheless, there are so many loopholes and obstacles to overcome to institutionalize the citizen -participatory nomination system because it was adopted in the crisis situation of two major political parties. This paper will include some suggestions to develop the citizen-participatory nomination system.