Reviews
We can take a look at the electoral system.
Scholars and political veterans have consistently emphasized that one cannot expect a future in a political system characterized by a single-member district where only the winner survives, combined with a rigid regional structure; therefore, for the dialogue and compromise of a mature democracy, the system, rather than the people, must change. Then, last December, the long-standing challenge of the mixed-member proportional representation system succumbed to the logic of power, giving rise to a
I didn't know much about elections... but I feel proud to have gained at least a little understanding of what the problems with the electoral system were and what impact it has. Also, the book is thin, so it wasn't too burdensome.
It was nice that the explanations of the mixed-member and semi-mixed-member proportional representation systems were easy to understand, but the discussion on what changes the electoral system will bring to our society was also quite impressive.
Cho Seong-bok: What is the mixed-member proportional representation system?
On December 20, 2019, the National Assembly amended the Public Official Election Act, changing the parliamentary election system from a "single-member district simple majority system" to a "semi-linked proportional representation system." This change was made because the previous system severely undermined the fairness of elections by consistently generating an excessive number of wasted votes. In the 20th General Election in 2016, the total votes obtained by the 253 elected constituency candidates amounted to approximately 8.3 million. This represents only 34% of the total votes cast (24.4 million), rendering the remaining 66%—approximately 16.1 million votes—as wasted. Under a winner-take-all electoral system, voters' choices inevitably concentrate on the two major parties, resulting in the persistent malpractice of these two parties monopolizing the majority of seats. In a two-party system, factional logic that drives to extreme confrontation inevitably takes precedence over dialogue and compromise. As a researcher who has long supported the German-style mixed-member proportional representation system, the author argues that such a system can transform the current two-party system into a multi-party one, thereby allowing the diversified demands of the public to converge in the National Assembly and create a more democratic and fair society. Although the greed of the two major parties ultimately led to the introduction of the distorted "semi-mixed" system in the 21st general election, the author imbues this election law reform with significance by predicting and presenting the changes in the political landscape (changes in the number of seats per party) that will emerge, however faintly, through this election. Through the author's kind explanations, tailored even to the perspective of an 18-year-old, readers will clearly realize how this election law reform—which often appears to be merely a power struggle among politicians—will affect politics and society as a whole.
Korean title: 연동형 비례대표제란 무엇인가
Korean author: 조성복
Korean publisher: 지식의날개
ISBN-13: 9788920036491
Reviews
We can take a look at the electoral system.
Scholars and political veterans have consistently emphasized that one cannot expect a future in a political system characterized by a single-member district where only the winner survives, combined with a rigid regional structure; therefore, for the dialogue and compromise of a mature democracy, the system, rather than the people, must change. Then, last December, the long-standing challenge of the mixed-member proportional representation system succumbed to the logic of power, giving rise to a
I didn't know much about elections... but I feel proud to have gained at least a little understanding of what the problems with the electoral system were and what impact it has. Also, the book is thin, so it wasn't too burdensome.
It was nice that the explanations of the mixed-member and semi-mixed-member proportional representation systems were easy to understand, but the discussion on what changes the electoral system will bring to our society was also quite impressive.
