정당정치와 헌법

Abstract

This essay tries to make some practical proposes for reformation of Korean political party system based on historial analysis of the party democracy. Political role of political parties has been unprecedently incereased in democratized Korea, but the reality of party ploitics are not so satisfactory, partly because of rapid development and politicalization of civil society and direct participation of citizens and partly because of serious stagnation of party reformation. Statist orientaion of most politicians and dominant state ideolgy of anti-communism have been sort of constant variables on Korean party politics as we saw from the Constititional Court’s decision of dissolution of the UPP in 2013. Actually, the constitutional provisions on political party of the 1962 Constitution was intended not to establish party democracy but to set up statist party system where a party-the Republican Party- had conducted the role of public mobiliation and manipulation. Even though the Democratic Labor Party was established as the first mass party based on strong party disciplin and ideological well-defined party program on 2000, the dominant major parties are not immune from the critics that they are dominated by a few party leaders and/or the President, and they are mere parts of "art de gouverner" exercised by the ruling groups. The dogmatics of the Party-state(Parteienstaat). which is tactically adopted by the Constitutional Court, is one of the mostly used tools for such party system. From such understandings, the essay makes several suggestions and proposals mainly based on the debated about mass party model and parliamentary party model, which has been a little stange on in the Korean academic society on the Constitution. This essay proposes two track strategy: current debate on reform of election system should take two model into deep consieration altogether. It should not compel every political paties to have primary election procedure for participation to the general or presidential election, which means that let them their own ways to choose their candidates. National party system of the Political Party Act, needs to be abolished, because it can be very significan barrier for the citizens of this modern society to politically mobilized their demands and desires of everyday lives, which constitutes a kind of regional politics. So, what is mostly needed is not the attention to develop the national parties, but the intensive support and participation to regional parties. A new enfranchise should be done without any delay. Present laws prohibite public officers and teachers to play any political roles under the name of “political neutrality”. The statutable voting age is still 19. All these citizens and any person above 18 years old shoule be elligible to vote and participate most activities of politics, and as result they should be entitled to participate any party based on their choice. Any restrictions on electoral campaign as well as most privileges given to the parliamentary parties should be removed.