Uichol Kim

Geir Helgesen

Nordic and East Asian Perspectives

Good Government

Søren Risbjerg Thomsen

Globalization may be undermining Kipling's assertion that East is East and West is West, but arguably this is more in the realms of technological advances and consumer behavior than political culture. In the latter area, much is still made of the contrasts between Eastern culture (characterized by collectivism and belief in authority) and Western culture (characterized by individualism and belief in democracy). Such comfortable assumptions will be shattered by readers of Politics, Culture and Self.This volume indeed confirms that differences between East Asia and northern Europe do exist. However, it also points to major similarities (e.g., regarding social harmony and the role of the family in society) as well as significant contrasts mirrored within the two regions(e.g. concerning interpersonal and institutional trust).

East Asian and North European Attitudes

Politics, Culture and Self

This controversial new study, breaks with the tradition of basing political studies on analyses of institutions and political personalities, by likening the Republic of Korea to a laboratory for the clash of political cultures. In the late 1940s, the Americans embarked upon a democratization programme designed to create a Western bulwark against the spread of communism in East Asia. The intervening years have seen the advent and demise of military rule, with South Korea now having a democratically-elected government. Although the US strategy thus seems successful, the political crises of 1995 in fact indicate that many obstacles remain here to the adoption of Western-style democracy. This study argues that socialization in general and political socialization in particular are key factors in any analysis of democracy, be it in Korea or elsewhere. Accordingly, the work draws on moral education textbooks, together with surveys and interviews among members of the urban intellectual elite. In this manner, the psychological roots of power and authority - key concepts to an understanding of 'good government' - are explored.

Geir Helgesen

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