“ Democratic Inconsistency in the North Korean Nuclear Crisis

Acoording 10 democratic peace theory, contracts with democracy are mQre durable 야cau$C they açquire “ law-like qualities. Compared 10 the “ fickle nature of di.ctatorships, democracy is a more consislenl •• thus more reliable - partner 끼lere is an interesting puzzle, however, in the North Korean nuclear crisis. For the past 15 years, the US has been quite inconsistent. While the Cli nton administration 에 ed 10 buy up the North Korean nucJear program through the 1994 agreemenl, the Bush administralion reversed earier policies and refused 10 negotiate with an “ aXls evi l . During its la51 yeaκ howe‘ eι the Bush administration reversed its Qwn cy, revlvmg an “ undated version of the 1994 agræmenl. Moreover, 이 “dem∞ra tJc m∞ nsistencies do nol seem isolated incidents in that South Korea - another democracy - has displayed similar zìgzags. By ìnvestigatìng these policy “ zigzags, this paper attempts to theorize democratic inoonsistency and analyze the North Korean nuc1ear crisis from such a viewpoint