For the 21st parliamentary election in South Korea, modifications were made to the electoral law, introducing a quasi-mixed proportional representation system. The primary objective of this reform was to prevent the two major political parties from se...
For the 21st parliamentary election in South Korea, modifications were made to the electoral law, introducing a quasi-mixed proportional representation system. The primary objective of this reform was to prevent the two major political parties from securing a greater number of seats than their respective vote shares. However, in practice, both major parties created “satellite parties” (also known as satellite offshoots or bloc parties). The formation of these satellite parties drew widespread criticism from the public, as it clearly undermined the primary goals of the electoral reform. Despite facing strong public opposition, it is noteworthy that two satellite parties managed to secure approximately 33% of the party votes, respectively. This outcome suggests that, counterintuitively, voters may exhibit partisan behavior not necessarily in line with the overall public sentiment. The paper implies that, given the current highly polarized political environment in South Korea, voters are more inclined to align more with partisan considerations rather than the broader public opinion.