[Conditions for Presidential Success in 2022] Short Interview with the Author: ⑨ Discard the President's Greatest Enemy, 'Self-Righteousness' (Han Kyu-sup)

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkNxZAWzkMg

Ahead of the 20th presidential election scheduled for March 9, 2022, the East Asia Institute (EAI) launched the project "Conditions for Presidential Success in 2022," targeting presidential candidates, election campaigns, politicians, media, and influencers. A book was published after a working paper series. The nine researchers summarize the conditions for success in the roles of head of the executive branch, politics of harmony and coexistence, and balanced national development and communication as 'decentralization, integration, and coexistence.' We present a short interview with the author along with the web publication of the working paper series, which aims to present the conditions for the next president's success by analyzing the failures of past presidents.

Chapter 9, "Discard the President's Greatest Enemy, 'Self-Righteousness'" – Han Kyu-sup (Seoul National University)

Read the Working Paper

■ Author: Han Kyu-sup_Professor of Media and Information, Seoul National University. He earned a Ph.D. in Communication from Stanford University and has served as Associate Dean of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division at the Seoul National University Big Data Research Institute, Vice President for Cooperation at Seoul National University, and Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His primary research area is political communication. His recent publications include "Economic and Cultural Drivers of Support for Immigrants." (2019), "Korean Political Trends Through Big Data" (2016, co-authored), and "The Influence of 'Social Viewing' on Televised Debate Viewers' Political Judgment."

■ Responsible Editor: Jeon Ju-hyun_EAI Researcher

    Inquiries: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 204) | jhjun@eai.or.kr

Video Transcript

The chapter I wrote deals with the conditions necessary for a president to effectively carry out state administration, focusing on the importance of public opinion and approval ratings. Unlike in the past when party politics were strong, such as during the conservative political era, today, smooth state administration requires public support and the strategy of pressuring the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly, what is called 'going public.' This is the era we live in.

Therefore, maintaining public support is, in a sense, the most fundamental condition for a president to effectively manage state affairs. As you know, presidential approval ratings have consistently declined throughout their terms, not only in Korea but also for most U.S. presidents. What are the reasons for this decline in approval ratings?

This chapter examines the most fundamental reasons. In Korea, the self-righteousness of presidents is likely the most significant cause. When past presidents acted self-righteously and pursued policies without negotiating with the opposition, their approval ratings plummeted. This chapter quantitatively demonstrates this phenomenon. While past presidents likely started with good intentions, a key reason for falling into self-righteousness is perhaps the pursuit of high approval ratings at the beginning of their term or becoming complacent after winning the election, leading them to pursue reformist policies that excessively appeal to their base rather than the entire populace. This is perhaps what presidents should most guard against.

I believe that when readers examine the trends in presidential approval ratings, they will find that, contrary to the presidents' intentions, their actions—whether it was former President Park Geun-hye or the current president—have led to significant declines in approval ratings when attempting overly ambitious, or perhaps 'reformist,' policies. This, in turn, becomes a cause for presidents facing very difficult situations in the latter half of their terms. I believe this offers an opportunity to quantitatively confirm this.