Public Opinion Briefing Vol. 29-3: Challenges for Korean Democracy: Restoring the Foundation of Political Trust

Public Opinion Briefing Vol. 29: Democracy's Crisis Through International Public Opinion

Topic 1: Is Democracy Facing a Crisis?

Topic 2: Factors Causing the Crisis of Political Trust

Topic 3: Challenges for Korean Democracy: Restoring the Foundation of Political Trust

Topic 3. Challenges for Korean Democracy: Restoring the Foundation of Political Trust

This survey indicates that the Korean government is perceived as the most politically distrustful among the surveyed nations. Our research team focuses on political trust because political distrust, while not necessarily a rejection of the political system itself, significantly impacts the functioning and vitality of democracy, as well as its stability.

From a normative perspective, democracy thrives on the voluntary consent of its members, rather than coercion as in authoritarian regimes. This voluntary consent is difficult to achieve without political trust—the belief that the government will realize one's interests and expectations. The collapse of political trust leads to political cynicism, which severely hinders the elicitation of voluntary participation and consent from citizens (Erikson and Tedin 2005).

From a policy perspective, the breakdown of political trust incurs significant political and economic costs during policy implementation. Regardless of ideology or political leaning, governments with a strong foundation of trust can achieve significant policy decisions and reforms by securing the voluntary consent and support of the public. Conversely, governments lacking this trust face considerable political and social controversy and conflict, making consistent policy decisions or project implementation difficult. In particular, widespread political distrust tends to lead citizens to resort to direct action rather than seeking political solutions through basic participation like voting on every issue (Abramson and Aldrich 1982).

Despite the importance of this issue, governments and politicians often undermine the very foundation of trust by focusing on immediate results and approval ratings. The current survey results underscore the urgent need for special attention and measures regarding the foundation of trust in Korean politics. Approximately eight out of ten Koreans express negative sentiment when asked if they trust the current government. The scale of distrust is problematic, but the composition of the responses reveals a more serious issue.

Generational analysis reveals severe government distrust among the 20s and 30s, who are poised to become the leading social groups. While 28.4% of those aged 50 and above expressed trust in the government, only 8.5% of those in their 20s and a mere 4.3% of those in their 30s did so. The figure for those in their 40s was also low at 14.1%. If these distrustful generations become the dominant social groups, and political cynicism persists, political distrust could become chronic throughout society.

Income and education levels reveal even more severe disparities in government trust across social strata. Notably, the lowest income bracket (under 1 million KRW per month) and those with junior high school education or less show high levels of trust in the government. In contrast, middle-class and above income groups, and those with college education or higher, exhibit extreme government distrust, hovering around the low 10% range. This is concerning as differences in perceptions of the government could easily escalate into class-based or stratum-based conflict. Furthermore, the high level of political distrust among the highly educated and high-income segments, who often lead public opinion, implies that political cynicism could spread more broadly.

The detrimental effects of widespread political distrust were evident during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. Despite short-term increases in approval ratings, the Roh administration faced significant governance challenges, largely attributable not to specific policy failures but to the self-inflicted weakening of its political trust base. The 'grand coalition' and 'constitutional amendment' proposals, introduced to overcome immediate governance impasses, are prime examples of policies that critically undermined the Roh administration's political trust foundation.

At present, the current government, which has experienced a sharp decline in approval ratings since its inception, needs to learn from past experiences and pay greater attention to the issue of political trust. A temporary dip in approval ratings can be recovered, but once the foundation of trust collapses, it is difficult to regain a foothold. The fact that the opposition party has not significantly benefited from the current government and ruling party's various setbacks and internal conflicts can also be seen as a long-term consequence of the collapse of the former ruling bloc's trust base.

The results of this survey offer several crucial insights for the current government in developing strategies to build a foundation of trust. They indicate that the primary drivers of government distrust may stem from perceptions that the government favors specific groups, its perceived arrogance in disregarding public opinion, and dissatisfaction with economic performance. If this analysis is accurate, the new government's emphasis on being 'business-friendly' could be interpreted as exclusionary towards other segments of society, and the forceful implementation of the Grand Canal project, opposed by a majority of the public, could be seen as a disregard for public opinion. The worsening domestic and international economic conditions, leading to a rapid deterioration of the perceived economy due to factors like inflation, will also hinder the establishment of a trust base through economic performance.

It is important to note that the policies the current government is ambitiously pursuing will be difficult to implement without substantial trust from the majority of the public. Minimizing factors that provoke political distrust should be prioritized over immediate performance.

[Figure 1] Government Trust Rate by Social Stratum (%)