ISSN : 0023-3900
While politics in Seoul has made great strides in democratization overthe past two decades, scholars continue to deplore that local politicsand local governance in South Korea remain a far cry from democracy.This paper addresses the intriguing question of democratic lag inSouth Korea. It argues that one of the main sources/causes of slowdemocratization at the local level lies in the underdevelopment andlack of empowerment of local civil society. The paper first introducesthe concept of democratic lag to conceptualize asymmetric democrati-zation in South Korea. Next, it describes and assesses various theoreti-cal accounts explaining the absence of local democracy and highlightsan underdeveloped civil society as a cause. The paper then submits sev-eral vignettes of the reality of local politics. After explaining why suchunderdevelopment of civil society has resulted, the paper concludeswith a set of policy prescriptions for empowering local civil society andthereby resolving the problem of democratic lag in South Korea.
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