South Korea

Abstract

The party system that emerged in post-autocratic Korea reveals some parallels with the party systems in nineteenth-century Europe: the government is controlled by highly elitist parties, which – comparable to the classical cadre party – are characterized by a lack of formal organizational faces, while the minor Korean Democratic Labour Party (KDLP), established outside parliament, features a strong party central office. Moreover, similar to the European cadre party, the dominant elitist parties have gone through some considerable organizational change. However, as will be seen, they are not following the same path of development as their counterparts in Western Europe, but have, in recent years, adopted a particular type of organization, shaped by actors’ strategic decisions within a specific environmental context.