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The National Assembly Futures Institute publishes reports that predict and analyze the changes in the future environment based on a comprehensive perspective, and derive mid- to long-term national development strategies in consideration of the preferences of the citizens
[20-28] Polarized politics; defining the problem and seeking improvements

Date : 2020-12-31 item : Research Report 20-28 P.I : Park Sang-hoon

[20-28] Polarized politics; defining the problem and seeking improvements

 The purpose of this study is to recognize the problems related to political polarization, and to analyze the causes of polarization and its negative consequences. While European political conflicts are mainly seen as a matter of ‘new populist parties,’ in Korea and the United States, political conflicts are characterized as polarization between the top two parties. In this respect, this report compares the problem of polarization in two-party politics with the polarization in multi-party politics seen in Europe. Furthermore, this report focuses on the relative differences between the polarized two-party politics of the United States and those of South Korea. Is deepening ideological differences between parties the root cause of political polarization? If so, the alternatives to political polarization will naturally be found in the ‘moderate.’ This report presents a different perspective on this seemingly obvious argument. Ideological polarization cannot be empirically supported in the case of South Korea. The real problem stems from two parties excluding each other over ‘power resources,’ rather than from an ideological distance or policy differences.