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Manhood, Power, and Politics in Korea: The 2016 General Election Case Study

Sun, June 26, 10:30am to 12:20pm, Shikokan (SK), Floor: 1F, 115

Abstract

One of the central characteristics of politics today is the over-representation of men worldwide. Male dominance is particularly pronounced in the Asian region, where the average percentage of men in parliament is 81% (in comparison to 58.9% in Northern Europe and 72.6% in the Americas). Growing research on this topic shows that masculinity—candidate recruitment processes shaped by male-centered informal networks (Bjarnegard 2013) and the political culture that supports men and marginalizes women (LeBlanc 2009; Dalton 2015)—is key to explaining men’s political dominance in different countries in Asia. Our paper builds on to this group of research by examining both institutional (e.g., rules regarding candidate nomination and election campaigns) and cultural (e.g., male power networks) factors that reproduce male hegemony in politics.

Our paper focuses on Korea, where strong male dominance in politics prevails, despite repeated efforts to bring gender balance in the political arena. Specifically, we conduct an in-depths analysis of the 2016 general elections, following closely how men hold on to and manifest their political power at different stages of the election (e.g., candidate nomination, campaign organization and activities), while women are marginalized and excluded. Finally, we pick and compare across two provinces in Korea—Seoul and Changwon—that vary in a number of key dimensions, such as electoral competition, party resources, and conservative political culture. We assess the degree to which these characteristics contribute to and reproduce masculinity in politics.

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