The Korean Welfare State in Economic Hard Times Democracy, Partisanship, and Social Learning

This article seeks to understand social policy choices during economic hard times based on the Koran case. It analyzes social policy responses by two ideologically different governments to the same economic shocks. The main findings are twofold. First, democracy opened a new window of opportunity for pro-welfare political forces during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which led to a rise of the Korean welfare state under center-left President Kim Dae-jung (1998-2002). Second, the conservative Lee government (2008-present) had to compromise its beliefs and continue Keynesian reflationary macroeconomic management and welfare state development in Korea, in order to provide a cushion for the political and social problems associated with the global financial crisis. The Korean case strongly suggests that democracy and social learning matter more than partisanship and ideology in economic hard times.

並列關鍵字

Korea ； welfare state ； economic crisis ； Kim Dae-jung ； Lee Myung-bak

參考文獻

(IMF, World Development Indicators database, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator (accessed April 18, 2012)).http://data.worldbank.org/indicator

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CIA World Factbook, “Introduction to South Korea,” http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ks.html 2012 (accessed April 18, 2012)