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11 สรุปการประชุมวิชาการ
สถาบันพระปกเกล้า ครั้งที่ 23
ประชาธิปไตยในภูมิทัศน์ใหม่

CITIZENS’ SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY:
IS SOUTH KOREAN DEMOCRACY FREE FROM

DECONSOLIDATION?

Unless a substantial majority of citizens prefer democracy and its
political institutions to any nondemocratic alternative and support
political leaders who uphold democratic practices, democracy is

unlikely to survive through its inevitable crises.

Dahl 1998, 157-158.

1. INTRODUCTION

Scholars of political culture and democracy have debated whether the cultural
reservoir for democracy has eroded around the world. Some scholars such as
Robert Foa and Yasha Mounk (2016, 2017) posit a thesis of the end of the

consolidation paradigm given that citizens have been away from democracy and
have attached to authoritarianism in both old and new democracies. This thesis
realistically breaks down the expectation that democracy would be sustainable once

it reaches consolidation. Yet, other scholars disagree with the thesis and contend
that support for democracy among global citizenries is still solid and its erosion is
found in only some countries (Inglehart 2016; Norris 2017).

This scholarly debate has been associated with substantially concerning

phenomena such as democratic backsliding and the rise of authoritarianism around
the world. However, South Korea seems remote from this academic concern and
growing literature of democratic deconsolidation. The main reason for the distance
relats to the 2016–2017 candlelight protest and its subsequent political changes.

As comparative political scientists entered a debate on the global backsliding of
democracy, the candlelight protest suddenly took place to halt democratic
deconsolidation experienced during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye
governments (2008–2017) and provided a moment in which South Korean

democracy rebounded.
การอภิปราย downfall of Park Geun-hye from presidency to prison and the restoration of
Because the candlelight protest resulted in such dramatic changes as the

democracy, it is clear that the candlelight protest saved South Korean democracy