Domstolen får legitimitet : En analys av Sydkoreas konstitutionsdomstol

Sammanfattning

This thesis studies how political leadership influences the consolidation of South Korea’s Constitutional Court during Kim Young-Sam’s presidency. By studying the historical structure of South Korea’s Constitutional Court, this study aims to better understand of how political leadership influences institutional development in new democracies. The research question is thus: How can the importance of political leadership in the consolidation of South Korea’s Constitutional Court during Kim Young-Sam’s presidency be understood from historical institutionalist and leadership theory perspectives? This study was conducted as a simple case study using a deductive qualitative text and content analysis method. The materials used were legislative amendments and presidential speeches from 1994 - 1997. The study used a combination of historical institutionalist and political leadership theory to answer the research question. The study found that Kim Young-Sam mainly appeared as an active leader while his political capacity reappeared systematically throughout the material. The study also found that Kim Young-Sam used his office to initiate reforms and to influence the development of the Constitutional Court. The study also found that consolidation took place gradually with successive administrative changes, and gradual formalization seemed to be preferred during Kim Young-Sam’s presidency. Lastly, a combination of the used theories appears to be most useful for the study. Finally, the study shows that Kim Young-Sam’s leadership played an important role in the consolidation of the Constitutional Court. However, it should be noted that the reform took place within the existing framework.