Good Government and Political Dissatisfaction in Korea

This paper analyzes political dissatisfaction in Korea, addressing the questions of how much Koreans dislike politics and what factors influence their dissatisfaction. More importantly, it investigates the causal relationships between the level of political satisfaction and political orientations such as political expectation, evaluation of con- temporary politics, and recognition of the importance of politics. Based on a survey conducted in 2014, this research reveals that Koreans still regard politics as an important factor in national development as well as personal life, even though they do not like politics and are disappointed by politics. The empirical section of this paper finds that the evaluation of contemporary politics primarily determines the extent of political satisfaction, which also impacts the perception of the importance of politics. The relationship between political dissatisfaction and political expectation turns out to be recursive. That is, based on a structural equation model (SEM), it is found that political dissatisfaction influences the level of political expectation, and vice versa.