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This paper aims to analyze some of the peculiarities of early constitutionalism and constitutional politics in South Korea. It also focuses on the relationship between constitutionalism and democratic development in the country. The founding Constitution in 1948 was unique in that it introduced two distinctive features: a mixed government (i.e., a special blend of the presidential and parliamentary systems) on the one hand, and a social-market economy (i.e., another special blend of a capitalist market economy and a socialist planned economy) on the other. The latter proved to be a great success, while the former was more of a failure. Based on this unique Constitution, South Korea's land reforms and the ensuing rapid economic development dazed the world with its epoch-making "economic miracle"; however, the mixed government was shortly transformed into a plebiscitarian mode of rule rather than representative democracy, and this subsequently laid the foundation for authoritarian rule in South Korea. This development seems to confirm a general trend; plebiscitarianism frequently has an elective affinity with authoritarianism. Under plebiscitarian democracy, as a result of the direct relationship between the state and civil society, intermediate levels (e.g. political parties) are weakened. In this way, it can be said that direct state-society relations pave the way for the emergence of conditions conducive to the development of both a strong state and a contentious civil society, not to mention conducive to the ensuing head-on collision of these two elements.
Key Words: Constitution, Constitutionalism, Mixed Government, Mixed Economy, Land Reform, Plebiscitarian Democracy, Originalism
I. Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the initial characteristics of the South Korean Constitution and democracy. Their macrolevel influences on the South Korean society will also be discussed through a careful study of the promulgation of constitutionalism and the constitutional framework in the formative period. Here, constitutionalism is defined as the political doctrine that claims that political authority should be bound by institutions that restrict the exercise of power (Lane, 1996: 19). As is well known, modern constitutionalism embraces the reciprocal tenets of the separation of powers and the rights of the citizenry (Bellamy, 1996: 24-25).
Grounded fundamentally in the interpretation and study of constitutionalism and constitutional politics, this paper will proceed by interconnectedly combining approaches used...