Youth Authoritarianism in Korean Democracy: What Makes the Youth in a Consolidated Democracy Withdraw Support for Democracy?

Why do young adults in Korea appear to reject the democratic system and embrace with authoritarianism? Employing a specially designed survey, this study examined the influence of the models of extreme economic hardship, social threat, fairness, and populism using the structural equation model. Thus,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inKorea observer Vol. 54; no. 4; pp. 585 - 611
Main Author Kang, WooJin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Institute of Korean Studies 22.12.2023
Subjects
Analysis
Authoritarianism
Democracy
Democratization
Demographic aspects
Diamond, Larry
East Asia
Political activity
Populism
South Korea
Southeast Asia
Teenagers
Youth
South Korea
East Asia
Southeast Asia
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Summary:Why do young adults in Korea appear to reject the democratic system and embrace with authoritarianism? Employing a specially designed survey, this study examined the influence of the models of extreme economic hardship, social threat, fairness, and populism using the structural equation model. Thus, the determinants of the authoritarian system were found to be multidimensional and somewhat at odds with each other in the direction of causation. The threat of economic hardship and intolerant attitudes toward North Korea and minorities were important factors that led young adults to support authoritarian regimes. Nevertheless, young adults who are critical of the fairness of democracy in Korea continue to support the democratic system. Young adults who are critical of representative democracy and oriented toward populism showed the same preference. This result provides the hopeful prospect that Korea may not join the recent trend of deconsolidation and further reauthoritarianism in the near future.
ISSN:0023-3919
DOI:10.29152/KOIKS.2023.54A585