ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with legal regulations on politics. The election law and party law excessively regulate politics in Korea. The election law was revised in 1958 for tightening the restrictions on election campaigns. The revision of the law was made by a political agreement between the ruling Liberal Party and the opposition Democratic Party. Neither party wanted the political advance of the Progressive Party in the 1958 election. This was further strengthened under the authoritarian regimes of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan. Despite democratization, the outdated characteristics of the election law that constrain political participation and freedom of expression remain unresolved. Similarly, the party law has not much changed since the enactment under the military regime of Park Chung-hee. While democratization has brought fundamental changes to the political environment, the legal regulations remain almost the same. The persistence of such regulatory provisions of party law is related to the fact that the major parties are not willing to give up their advantages. Political participation at the non-institutional level, such as protests, has become excessively active, but there are still many legal restrictions on participation in institutional areas such as election campaigns and party activities. The legacy of the authoritarian era still lingers in the laws governing politics. Resolving these problems requires more attention to the importance of the basic principles of democracy.
