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Revolution or Negotiated Regime Change? Structural Dynamics in the Process of Democratization: the Case of South Korea in the 1980s
Revolution oder verhandelter Regimewechsel? Strukturelle Dynamiken im Demokratisierungsprozess: der Fall Südkoreas in den 1980er-Jahren
[journal article]
Abstract This study examines the interaction between the pro-democratic movement and the authoritarian military regime of South Korea in the 1980s. Contemporary democracy research is dominated by two opposing theoretical views: Voluntarist approaches tend to conceive the transition from authoritarian rule to... view more
This study examines the interaction between the pro-democratic movement and the authoritarian military regime of South Korea in the 1980s. Contemporary democracy research is dominated by two opposing theoretical views: Voluntarist approaches tend to conceive the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy as a negotiated process. Structural approaches view the transition to democracy more or less as an outcome of structural conditions, in particular the balance of power between incumbents and challengers of a regime. We consider both perspectives not as competing alternatives but rather as accounts of two different structural dynamics: In some stages of the democratization process, it is more appropriate to interpret the confrontation between pro-democratic challengers and power holders as a (structurally determined) non-cooperative game. In other situations, both sides may recognize that cooperation (and negotiation) leads to a better outcome than a pure strategy of confrontation. The analysis focusses on the interplay between the two structural dynamics on the empirical case of South Korea in the 1980s. A process tracing analysis highlights three critical junctures in which the democratization process shifted from sequences of non-cooperation to sequences of cooperation and back. On this basis, we develop an analytical process model that integrates the two (opposing) theoretical approaches on the temporal dimension.... view less
Keywords
political negotiation; theory of democracy; political movement; political change; protest; political actor; social movement; criticism; democratization; opposition; model construction; South Korea; military government; change in power; process analysis
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Free Keywords
Process Tracing; Social Movements; Structural Dynamics
Document language
English
Publication Year
2017
Page/Pages
p. 245-274
Journal
Historical Social Research, 42 (2017) 3
Issue topic
Critique and Social Change: Historical, Cultural, and Institutional Perspectives
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.42.2017.3.245-274
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed