ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the trend and pattern of party polarization in the three East Asian countries. In South Korea, party polarization has drastically increased during the last ten years, and rising party polarization frequently leads to incessant partisan gridlock and confrontational legislative politics. A greater level of party polarization often leads to incessant partisan gridlock and confrontational politics. The chapter analyzes data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems that surveyed citizens across many countries, including advanced democracies and East Asian democracies. The Uri Party, new major party, was reunited with the Millennium Democratic Party and changed its name into the Democratic Party before the 2007 Presidential election, and later changed again its name into the Democratic United Party. The trend of party polarization in Japan seems to be quite opposite to that of South Korea and Taiwan.
