Hyeok Yong Kwon

Targeting Public Spending in a New Democracy: Evidence from South Korea

Empirical studies of electoral competition and public policy in new democracies have been relatively underdeveloped. This article investigates the election-policy outcome link in a ‘hard case’ setting: South Korea in 1988–97. Contrary to expectations derived from the bureaucratic insulation or fiscal co-ordination argument, this study suggests a systematic impact of electoral competition on levels and distributive patterns of public spending. The analysis finds that levels of government expenditure increased according to the electoral calendar. Also, national subsidies tended to be allocated to ‘swing’ provinces in which electoral contests are competitive. The results of the analysis clearly show that fiscal policies in democratizing Korea are to a significant extent determined by electoral politics.

Economic Reform and Democratization: Evidence from Latin America and Post-Socialist Countries

What are the political consequences of economic reform in new democracies? Is the effect of economic reform on democratization the same across regions? Some scholars of transitology argue that economic reform has negative consequences on democratization largely because the resistance of established groups can undermine democratization processes. Others, mainly scholars of the post-socialist region, argue that in the post-socialist region economic reform has positive consequences on political democratization due in large part to the regions distinctive historical and structural legacies. The heated debate between Philippe Schmitter with Terry Karl and Valerie Bunce provides ample opportunity to (re)think about democratization in a more contextual and cross-regional perspective. However, there has been little systematic empirical analysis across regions. This analysis attempts to fill the gap by examining whether the dominant research paradigm of democratization is empirically valid across regions in transition.

Unemployment, Partisan Issue Ownership, and Vote Switching Evidence from South Korea

How do voters respond to individual worries about the employment situation in elections? This paper examines the effect of issue salience of the employment situation on voter choice. Drawing theoretical insights from the partisan salience of issue voting theories, I argue that voters who previously supported parties on the right are likely to change their political allegiance to support a center-left party when they think the employment issue is one of the most salient issues in the election. Furthermore, I argue that middle income voters are more likely to respond to an increasing salience of the employment issue than other groups are. These theoretical arguments are tested against the post-crisis 2002 Korean presidential election survey data. The empirical evidence from the Korean case suggests that structural reforms of the economy and neoliberal economic policies can evoke particular voting patterns in the voters.How do voters respond to individual worries about the employment situation in elections? This paper examines the effect of issue salience of the employment situation on voter choice. Drawing theoretical insights from the partisan salience of issue voting theories, I argue that voters who previously supported parties on the right are likely to change their political allegiance to support a center-left party when they think the employment issue is one of the most salient issues in the election. Furthermore, I argue that middle income voters are more likely to respond to an increasing salience of the employment issue than other groups are. These theoretical arguments are tested against the post-crisis 2002 Korean presidential election survey data. The empirical evidence from the Korean case suggests that structural reforms of the economy and neoliberal economic policies can evoke particular voting patterns in the voters.

Economic perceptions and electoral choice in South Korea: the case of the 2007 presidential election

Abstract While the notion that subjective economic perceptions as well as objective economic conditions affect electoral outcomes has long been explored in advanced democracies and new democracies, evidence of the link between the economy and elections has been rarely found in East Asian countries. As economic issues have become salient since the 1997 financial crisis, political leaders’ capacity to manage the economy has become one of the most important criteria in electoral choice in East Asia. This paper examines how economic issues influenced the results of the 2007 presidential election in South Korea. By making use of the 2007 Presidential Election Panel Study, this study examines the continuity of and changes in the Korean voters’ electoral behavior. This study describes the political situation in the post-1997 financial crisis period under two liberal governments in Korea and introduces the processes and characteristics of electoral campaigns in the 2007 presidential election. This paper then explores the link between the economy and vote choice, focusing on whether economic issues were salient among the electorate, whether retrospective or prospective economic voting was prevalent among Koreans, and how the voters supported Lee Myung Bak across age groups, regions, and parties in the 2007 presidential election.

Heat Tolerance Induction of the Indian Meal Moth (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Is Accompanied by Upregulation of Heat Shock Proteins and Polyols

Abstract The Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella, causes massive damage to stored grains and processed foods. Heat treatment has been widely used to control insect pests infesting stored grains. However, heat treatment may result in unsatisfactory control owing to heat tolerance of target insects. This study quantified the heat tolerance and analyzed its induction in P. interpunctella. Susceptibility of P. interpunctella to different high temperatures was assessed in all developmental stages. Heat treatment at 44 °C for 1 h caused significant mortalities to all developmental stages, with late-instar larvae exhibiting the highest tolerance. However, the survivorship to heat treatment was significantly increased by pre-exposure to 37 °C for 30 min. The induction of heat tolerance was accompanied by upregulation of two heat shock proteins of Hsc70 and Hsp90. Trehalose and glycerol concentrations in the hemolymph also increased after pre-exposure to 37 °C for 30 min. RNA interference (RNAi) by specific double-stranded RNAs effectively suppressed the inducible expressions of both Hsc70 and Hsp90 in response to 37 °C for 30 min. Either RNAi of Hsc70 or Hsp90 significantly impaired the heat tolerance induction of P. interpunctella. These results suggest that the induction of heat tolerance in P. interpunctella involves the upregulation of these heat shock proteins and hemolymph polyol levels.

Enhanced Acetylcholinesterase Activity of the Indianmeal Moth, Plodia interpunctella, Under Chlorine Dioxide Treatment and Altered Negative Phototaxis Behavior

Chlorine dioxide has been used as a disinfectant against microbial pathogens. Recently, its insecticidal activity has been known against stored insect pests by oxidative stress. However, any molecular target of the oxidative stress induced by chlorine dioxide has been not known in insects. This study assessed an enzyme activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) as a molecular target of chlorine dioxide in the Indianmeal moth, Plodia interpunctella. AChE activities were varied among developmental stages of P. interpunctella. Injection of chlorine dioxide with lethality-causing doses significantly increased AChE activity of the fifth instar larvae of P. interpunctella. Exposure of the larvae to chlorine dioxide fumigant also significantly increased AChE activity. The fifth instar larvae of P. interpunctella exhibited a negative phototaxis. However, chlorine dioxide treatment significantly interrupted the innate behavior. These results suggest that AChE is one of molecular targets of oxidative stress due to chlorine dioxide in P. interpunctella.

The Trust-Eroding Effect of Inequality: Evidence from East Asian New Democracies

This paper examines the effect of economic inequality on citizens’ political trust in East Asian new democracies.

Government Partisanship and Electoral Accountability: The Effect of Perceived Employment Situation on Partisan Vote Switching:

What are the electoral impacts of perceptions of unemployment under different partisan persuasions of the government? Neither the literature on retrospective economic voting nor partisan voting has provided a compelling answer to this question. This paper addresses this puzzle by analyzing panel surveys and leveraging differences in government partisanship in two consecutive elections. I argue that negative evaluations of the employment situation induce voter transition to support a left-wing party under a right-wing government, but that such voter perceptions do not affect vote choice under a left-wing government. An analysis of a voter transition, using British Election Panel Study 1992–1997 and 1997–2001, reveals findings that support my argument. My argument suggests conditional partisan voting effects. Essentially, the effect of economic issues on vote choice is conditional on issue salience and which party “owns” the issue, namely, the varying levels of issue salience related to government partisanship.

Measurement of Ideology Based on Per Capita Vote Versus Money Count Vote in Korea

This paper studies political confrontation developed through ideological differences as well as economic confrontation developed by income inequality. Political confrontation is a shadow of human history. The French Revolution was an uprising against the inheritance of the royal class; subsequently, the Marxist revolution tried to remove inheritance through wealth.

The trust-eroding effect of perceived inequality: Evidence from East Asian new democracies

Abstract This paper examines the effect of citizens’ perceived salience of inequality on political trust in East Asian new democracies. The link between inequality and trust in new democracies has yet to receive appropriate attention in empirical research. We argue that citizens’ perceived salience of inequality has a trust-eroding effect where increasing inequality is a politically salient issue and there is a norm of fairness among the citizenry. When citizens perceive that the government and political elites are responding to the citizens’ demand for fair shares, citizens’ political trust increases. Our analysis of the 2006 Asia Barometer data finds that perceived salience of inequality has a negative effect on political trust among the citizens in Taiwan, but not in Korea. Our results suggest that the political salience of inequality on citizens’ minds is of crucial importance for political trust and political consequences of inequality has to do with the pace of rising inequality and the norms of distributive justice.