Abstract
The economic success of Korea has been attributed mainly to the initiatives of a “strong state.” It is commonly assumed that society, in contrast to the state, was weak and passive yet was effectively mobilized by the state’s rigorous planning efforts. We challenge this interpretation. The “developmental state” (Johnson, 1982), autonomous as well as embedded (Evans, 1995) during the Park Chung Hee era, cannot be explained by the simple dichotomy of “strong state and weak society” (Migdal, 1988). We rather find that Korea during the Park era was a showcase of synergy between a strong state and a strong society.
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© 2013 Seok-Choon Lew
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Wang, H.S. (2013). Generalized Reciprocity between Strong State and Strong Society: Park Chung Hee and the Korean Developmental Path. In: Lew, SC. (eds) The Korean Economic Developmental Path. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137347299_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137347299_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-47168-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-34729-9
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