이 연구는 책임정당정치를 저해하는 한국적 요인이 무엇인지 알아보고 책임정당정치 실현을 위해 필요한 조치는 무엇인지 고찰해보는 것을 목적으로 한다. 현재 한국 정당정치에 있어 가장 큰 문제점은 대의민주주의 운영에 있어 중요한 역할을 하는 정당이 유권자의 기대에 미치지 못하며 이에 따라 신뢰받지 못하고 있다는 점이다. 한국 정치발전을 위해서는 책임정당정치 실현을 통한 정당에 대한 인식 변화가 필요하다. 연구를 통해 책임정당정치를 가로막는 장애물은 정당의 정통성 부재, 정당 간 낮은 수준의 정책차별성, 비합리적 지역주의에 의존하는 관행, 당내 후보선출 과정의 비민주성이라는 것을 알 수 있었다. 현재 구조적으로 취약하고 기능적으로 미약한 정당이 책임정당으로 전환하기 위해서는 대표성과 책임성이 제고되어야 한다. 이를 위해서는 정책기능 강화, 지역성 탈피, 그리고 선거인단 대표성 확대 등을 통해 책임성을 확보해야 한다. 또한 정권 재창출을 위해 간과해온 정통성과 반응성을 확보함으로써 책임정당정치가 강화될 수 있도록 해야 한다.

The purposes of the study are to examine factors hampering the practice of responsible party politics and to investigate what disciplinary actions are required to exercise responsible party politics in Korea. One of the most serious problems in Korean party politics is that parties playing an important role in representative democracy are not successful in gaining trust from the electorate. This is because they do not meet any expectation of the electorate. In order to advance Korean politics, positive recognition changes on political parties are necessary. It can be achieved when the practice of responsible party politics is regularized. The study illustrates that obstacles having an effect on the practice of responsible party politics are the lack of parties' legitimacy, no distinction among parties on policies, the tendency of relying on regionalism, and undemocratic way of nominating party's candidates. Korean political parties, systematically vulnerable and functionally weak, should be transformed into a responsible political party by enhancing representation and accountability. To accomplish that, they should strengthen policy capability, escape from regionalism, and secure representation of the electoral college. Likewise, political parties should exercise responsible party politics by placing emphasis on legitimacy and responsiveness that have been overlooked due to the recreation of political regime.

The purposes of the study are to examine factors hampering the practice of responsible party politics and to investigate what disciplinary actions are required to exercise responsible party politics in Korea. One of the most serious problems in Korean party politics is that parties playing an important role in representative democracy are not successful in gaining trust from the electorate. This is because they do not meet any expectation of the electorate. In order to advance Korean politics, positive recognition changes on political parties are necessary. It can be achieved when the practice of responsible party politics is regularized. The study illustrates that obstacles having an effect on the practice of responsible party politics are the lack of parties' legitimacy, no distinction among parties on policies, the tendency of relying on regionalism, and undemocratic way of nominating party's candidates. Korean political parties, systematically vulnerable and functionally weak, should be transformed into a responsible political party by enhancing representation and accountability. To accomplish that, they should strengthen policy capability, escape from regionalism, and secure representation of the electoral college. Likewise, political parties should exercise responsible party politics by placing emphasis on legitimacy and responsiveness that have been overlooked due to the recreation of political regime.

Party Politics, Responsible Party Politics, Accountability, Representative Democracy, Regionalism