Voluntary Association Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea
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Nonprofit Policy Forum 2021; aop Won No*, Hyunrang Han and Lili Wang Voluntary Association Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea https://doi.org/10.1515/npf-2021-0002 Received January 7, 2021; accepted July 6, 2021 Abstract: While studies suggest that voluntary association involvement leads to more political participation in the U.S. and European countries, the relationship remains debatable in new democracies. Using the Current Social Integration Survey from 2015 to 2018 in South Korea, this study examines the relationship between voluntary association engagement and participation in political activities based on the social capital theory and explores whether the results vary by the types of voluntary associations and multiple memberships in the associations. The results suggest that memberships in voluntary associations are positively associ- ated with voting and engagement in political activities. Additionally, only mem- berships in certain types of associations are related to voting and engagement in political activities. Keywords: voluntary association, political participation, civic engagement, social capital, South Korea 1 Introduction A considerable number of studies have found that voluntary association involvement encourages political participation in the U.S. and European countries (Alexander et al. 2012; Li and Zhang 2017; Somma 2010; Wollebæk and Strømsnes 2008). The relationship between voluntary association involvement and political participation, however, has not been consistent when expanding the focus to new democracies (Kim 2005; Lee and Glasure 2007). New democracy, also called nascent democracy or unconsolidated democracy, refers to political regimes that have transitioned from authoritarian rules to democratic regimes since the 1970s (Cook and Savun 2016; Croissant and Völkel 2012; Kim 2005). It is worthwhile to *Corresponding author: Won No, School of Public Economics and Administration, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, China, E-mail: no.won@mail.shufe.edu.cn. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6534-5702 Hyunrang Han and Lili Wang, School of Community Resources and Development, Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA, E-mail: Hyunrang.Han@asu.edu (H. Han), Lili.Wang@asu.edu (L. Wang) Open Access. © 2021 Won No et al., published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
2 W. No et al.
explore new democracies because the former autocratic leadership and culture
may still influence society even after the democratic reform (Cook and Savun 2016).
Such continued powerful presence of autocratic force may cause civil conflict,
such as complicating efforts to consolidate democracy (Cook and Savun 2016).
Thus, this different context may yield different aspects of the relationship between
voluntary association involvement and political participation.
South Korea is one of the new democracies which has successfully achieved its
shift of political regime from authoritarian rule to democracy in the late 1980s
(Croissant and Völkel 2012). Moreover, previous studies using the case of South
Korea show mixed findings on the relationship between voluntary association
involvement and political engagement. Some argue that associational engagement
is negatively related to voting commitment (Kim 2005) and association member-
ship plays a minor role in shaping political engagement in South Korea (Lee and
Glasure 2007). Others, however, found that associational membership is a signif-
icant predictor of political activity such as voting (Lee 2010). It is noteworthy that
those studies are based on data from about 20 years ago. In the past few decades,
however, South Korea has witnessed tremendous socio-economic and political
development. The number of nonprofit organizations in the country has increased
dramatically (Lee and Glasure 2007; Kim and Moon 2003; Ministry of Interior and
Safety [MOIS] 2020), and the voter turnout patterns in different levels of the elec-
tions have changed to a great extent.
Considering the social and political changes in South Korea, especially those
in the recent 20 years, it would be a good time to assess whether the relationship
between voluntary association involvement and political engagement has evolved
in the new democracy. There is still only a little empirical research devoted to
investigating social capital in the context of new democracies that have emerged in
the 1980s and 1990s around the world (Fox 1996; Kim 2005; Lee and Glasure 2007;
LiPuma and Koelble 2009; Seligson 1999). In this regard, this study aims to add to
the existing literature by examining two research questions based on social capital
theory. First, are membership and engagement in different types of voluntary
associations related to citizen’s political participation? Second, if so, do the re-
lationships vary by the types of voluntary associations and multiple memberships?
We constructed a pooled sample from a nationally representative survey, the
Current Social Integration Survey (sahoe-tonghab-siltae-josa), from 2015 to 2018.
Our findings suggest that memberships in voluntary organizations are, in general,
positively associated with voting and engagement in political activities. When
examining the relationship by the different types of voluntary associations, only
certain types of voluntary associations are associated with voting and engagement
in political activities.Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea 3
This study makes the following contributions to the literature and the practice.
First, the findings shed light on the theoretical debate regarding whether social
capital theory (Putnam 1995) applies to new democracies. Second, we have
advanced the measures of political participation by including more direct and
comprehensive measures of voting, social communication and political partici-
pation in daily life, social trust, and perceived political performance. Third,
understanding how associational membership and political participation are
related and, particularly, what types of voluntary associations are related to
increased political participation would be beneficial for those who are interested in
improving participatory inputs in the policymaking process.
The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In the next section, we review the
literature on social capital and political participation, develop hypotheses on how
voluntary association involvement may be associated with political participation
in South Korea, and posit the potential influence of different types of voluntary
association involvement on political engagement. Then we introduce the data,
variables, and methods used in this study, followed by a report of the results. We
conclude the paper with a discussion of the study’s findings, its contributions and
limitations, and the implications for future research.
2 Case Background
2.1 The Nonprofit Sector, Voluntary Associations, and Civic
Engagement in South Korea
In South Korea, the nonprofit sector has not emerged until the 1960s, primarily due
to the solid government-centered administrative culture (Kim and Hwang 2002).
Although rapid social and economic changes in the 1950s contributed to the
establishment of democracy and the development of civil society, successive
authoritarian regimes continued, and those military dictatorships during the 1960s
and 1970s suppressed civil rights and freedom despite dramatic economic devel-
opment (Kim and Kim 2015). In the 1980s, the rise of various voluntary associa-
tions, such as religious groups, unions, professional groups, and charities, helped
establish the opposition forces toward the authoritarian government and shaped
the nature of democratic consolidation (Lee and Glasure 2007). Particularly, crit-
ical civic groups like labor unions and college students organized political forces
and played pivotal roles in fighting against the authoritarian political regime (Lee
and Glasure 2007; Kim and Moon 2003). After the achievement of the political
regime shift from authoritarian rule to democracy in 1987, there was also a sharp4 W. No et al.
increase in the number of voluntary associations in the 1990s. This is because,
starting in 1994, the establishment of nonprofit organizations only needed a simple
registration and did not have to get approval from the government as they used to
(Kim 2019).
As South Korea moves toward a robust democratic society, a continuing
growth of civil society and civic engagement has been reported in the most recent
statistics and research. The number of nonprofit organizations in South Korea has
increased about six times, from 2524 in 2000 to 14,699 in 2019 (MOIS 2020).
However, considering that Kim and Hwang (2002) estimated that registered
nonprofit organizations would only account for about 18% of all nonprofit orga-
nizations, the total number of nonprofit organizations would be much more than
the registered number. Similarly, the rate of voluntary association engagement in
South Korea has risen over the past two decades, reaching 66.1% in 2019, a 43%
increase from the rate of 23.1% in 1999 (Statistics Korea 2020).
The dramatic increase of nonprofit organizations was a powerful source of
social and political effects for South Korean citizens (Oh 2012). As strong advocates
for social changes, thousands of voluntary associations have engaged in or led to
massive candlelight rallies (Oh 2012; Shin and Moon 2017). Notably, the largest
demonstrations in Korean history, the 2016–17 candlelight rallies which demon-
strated for President Park Geun-Hye’s impeachment, were often led by labor
groups and social movement organizations (Shin and Moon 2017). However, mil-
lions of citizens, such as housewives and the elderly, also have vigorously engaged
in the protests (Shin and Moon 2017). Those protest-led political reforms have been
an important part of political development in Korean society over the past two
decades (Shin and Moon 2017).
Additionally, the voter turnout rates (%) in South Korea over the same period
show an interesting trend of citizen’s political participation. As presented in
Figure 1, although the percentage of people who voted in presidential, parlia-
mentary, and local elections tended to decrease until the late 2000s, the trend has
rebounded since the 2010s (National Election Commission [NEC] 2020). More
specifically, the voter turnout in presidential elections is 77% in 2017 compared
with 71% in 2002. The voter turnout in parliamentary elections increased from 57%
in 2000 to 66% in 2020. The voter turnout in local elections is 60% in 2018
compared with 49% in 2002 (NEC 2020).
In sum, we see an immense expansion of civil society and increased electoral
participation over the past two decades. This may imply that democracy in South
Korea has enormously grown and matured compared to the early stage. In this
regard, we claim a need to re-examine the relationship between associational
involvement and political participation in South Korea.Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea 5
Figure 1: Voter turnout in different levels of elections in South Korea.
3 Literature Review
3.1 Associational Involvement and Political Participation in
South Korea
Previous studies on the relationship between associational involvement and po-
litical participation in South Korea presented mixed findings. Table 1 shows the
comparisons of previous studies examining the relationship between social capital
and political engagement in the country.
Some researchers argue that associational involvement is negatively
associated with voting commitment (Kim 2005), and association engagement
plays a minor or no role in shaping political participation in South Korea (Lee
and Glasure 2007; Park and Shin 2005). They interpreted that even though the
level of democracy had advanced in South Korea, voluntary associations might
not have matured enough to provide civic skills required for democratic citi-
zenship, such as political participation (Kim 2005). This may have been because
most voluntary associations tended to depend more on a few socially influential
people or the media than their members to broadcast their issues and to magnify
the impact of their efforts at that time (Lee and Glasure 2007). Additionally,
although Korean civil society has been growing immensely, cooperative net-
works connecting civic organizations to interest groups would have been lacking
(Lee and Glasure 2007).
On the contrary, a later study found that associational membership is a sig-
nificant predictor of political participation and contributes to the development of
democratic citizenship in South Korea (Lee 2010). In addition, associational6
Table : Comparisons of empirical studies on the relationship between social capital and political engagement in South Korea.
Publication Kim () Park and Shin () Lee and Glasure () Lee ()
Data National survey on so- East Asia Barometer survey , World East Asia Barometer
cial capital Values Surveys survey
Sample size
W. No et al.
IV measures – Associational – Associational involvement (informal, – Associational – Associational member-
involvement formal, full) membership ship (formal, informal)
– Social trust – Social trust (commitment-based, – Trust – Commitment
competence-based, generalized) – Political cynicism – Interaction
DV – Political trust (trust in – Democratic citizenship – Protest potential – Voting
measures political institutions) – Support for democracy – Campaign participation
– Commitment to voting – Political activism (political involvement,
political efficacy, political participation)Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea 7
interaction such as talking about politics among members appeared to be signif-
icant in fostering participation in election campaigns (Lee 2010). The author
concluded that the impacts of social capital in South Korea could support
Putnam’s notion that associational interactions facilitate democratic participation
(Lee 2010).
Based on the review of previous studies and the recent social and political
changes in South Korea, we examine the relationship between voluntary associ-
ation involvement and political engagement by employing more advanced
measures and more recent data. As the country has made significant progress in its
transition to democracy (Sanborn 2015), particularly in the recent 20 years, as
shown in the case background section above, we test whether the well-known
positive relationship between voluntary association involvement and political
engagement in the U.S. and European countries can be consistently applied in the
case of South Korea. Also, we examine whether and how the relationship may vary
by the types of voluntary associations in this context.
3.2 Associational Membership, Social Capital, and Political
Participation
Ever since the milestone publication of Putnam’s (1995) study of America’s
declining social capital and its consequences on democracy and political
engagement, numerous scholars in various disciplines have paid attention to the
relationship between associational membership and political participation
(Alexander et al. 2012; La Due Lake and Huckfeldt 1998; Lim 2008; Quintelier 2008;
Teney and Hanquinet 2012; Wollebæk and Strømsnes 2008). In the literature, there
are at least two perspectives on the logic of such relationships. On the one hand,
Putnam defined social capital as “features of social organization, such as
networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for
mutual benefit” (1995, 66). A large stock of social capital, such as networks of
associational engagement, fosters coordination and communication among citi-
zens, encourages norms of reciprocity and trust, and thus boost citizens’ capacity
to engage in political actions for collective benefits (La Due Lake and Huckfeldt
1998; Putnam 1995; Teney and Hanquinet 2012).
On the other hand, voluntary associations would allow members to develop
civil skills such as communication and organizational capacities necessary to
participate in various political activities (Brady, Verba, and Schlozman 1995;
Leighley 1996). Voluntary association members are more likely to be asked to
engage in political activities as they are more visible and influential (Parry, Moyser,8 W. No et al.
and Day 1992; Rosenstone and Hansen 2003). Clearly, individuals who participate
in voluntary associations would have more opportunities to communicate with
other people and develop strong social relationships; thus, they become more
engaged in political life (Brady, Verba, and Schlozman 1995).
Some scholars suggest that the relationship between social capital or volun-
tary association memberships and political participation is not necessarily linear
and may vary by cultural, political, and economic context and also change over
time (LiPuma and Koelble 2009; Schneider 2009). In addition, theories of social
capital centered on the U.S. and Europe may be only partially applicable to the
emerging democracies, such as countries in Africa and the post colony (LiPuma
and Koelble 2009). This is because the global and local political economy and the
underdeveloped civil society in emerging democracies may influence the devel-
opment of social capital differently compared to the well-formed and stable
democracies in Northern America or Western Europe (LiPuma and Koelble 2009).
In addition, the former autocratic leadership and culture may remain influential in
society even after the democratic reform (Cook and Savun 2016). Such continued
powerful presence of autocratic force may cause civil conflict, such as compli-
cating efforts to consolidate democracy (Cook and Savun 2016). Those countries
transitioning to democracy usually experience serious democratic deficits in the
early stages of the transitions, such as low levels of political engagement, illegit-
imate elections, and low levels of public trust in governmental institutions
(Carothers 2002).
Given the contextual background of the great progress made in its transitions
to democracy, this study focuses on whether voluntary association involvement is
positively associated with political engagement in new democracies such as the
case of South Korea. In this regard, we hypothesize the relationship as follows.
H1: People who are members of voluntary associations are more likely to take part
in political participation than those who are non-members.
H2: People who participate more actively in voluntary associations are more likely
to take part in political participation than those who participate less actively.
The influences of different kinds of voluntary associations on political engagement
appear to be different depending on social contexts (Stolle and Rochon 1998;
Warren 2001). In the literature based on the U.S. and European countries, instru-
mental voluntary associations, such as vocational education clubs, school groups,
and social movements, are most influential (Hanks 1981; Quintelier 2008).
Instrumental voluntary associations tend to focus on the goals outside the groups,
whereas expressive voluntary associations, such as hobby clubs and sportsInvolvement and Political Participation in South Korea 9
groups, tend to have more in-group objectives (Glanville 2004; Stoll 2001). Those
expressive voluntary associations help create an interpersonal identity but are
relatively easy to leave, so that less likely to help develop political skills that are
helpful in political engagement (Warren 2001). Furthermore, people with multiple
active memberships in voluntary associations are more likely to participate in
political activities such as voting and campaign activities (Alexander et al. 2012;
Verba and Nie 1972).
Similarly, within the context of Korean society, the effects of different kinds
of voluntary association memberships and the degree of active engagement on
political engagement may appear differently. For instance, advocacy groups
such as CSOs and labor unions have mainly undertaken the roles of monitoring
the government’s performances and led various social reforms in South Korea
(Kim and Hwang 2002; Oh 2012; Shin and Moon 2017). CSOs are nonprofit orga-
nizations in the private sector that pursue public interests and aim at achieving
social changes and social innovations (Geum and Kwon 2006). CSOs have
expressed their opinions to advocate on social issues and significantly influenced
the policy-making process (Kim 2011; Kim and Hwang 2002). Also, historically,
CSOs have led social and political reforms by presenting or revising various
reform laws and bills to facilitate social changes such as the reforms of the
election law, the political funds law, and the political party law in South Korea
(Kim 2011). By participating in such advocacy groups, the members would have
more opportunities to learn civic skills (e.g. communication and organizational
capacities) and to engage in political life. In addition, the labor union is another
powerful actor affecting the government’s policy-making process. Labor groups
often compete with the CSOs, but they sometimes coalesce together depending
on issues (Kim and Hwang 2002). Thus, members of the advocacy groups may
engage in political activities more than the members in social groups such as
sports clubs.
Whether the voluntary associations are closely related to the government may
make a difference as well. When classifying voluntary associations into
government-affiliated (e.g. community organizations, volunteering/philanthropy
organizations) and government-unaffiliated (e.g. CSOs), the members of the
government-affiliated associations may be reluctant to engage in advocacy
activities, particularly if the issues counter the government. In South Korea, for
example, numerous volunteering/philanthropy organizations are government-
affiliated as a large number of volunteer centers were established by the govern-
ment since 1978 (Woo and Kim 2015). Since then, numerous volunteering/phi-
lanthropy organizations which provide social services and charities are
government-sponsored (Woo and Kim 2015). In some cases, volunteering organi-
zations become almost like government-organized organizations, also called sub-10 W. No et al.
administrative organizations, closely related to the governments (Lee 2018). Thus,
the members of government-affiliated associations may hesitate to counter the
government not to risk losing the financial support from the government. Instead,
they may prefer to participate in formal political activities, such as voting partic-
ipation, compared to other government-unaffiliated groups.
Based on the literature review of the cases in Northern America or Western
Europe and South Korea, we hypothesize as follows.
H3: The relationship between associational membership and political participa-
tion would be different depending on the types of voluntary associations.
H4: The relationship between active participation in voluntary associations and
political participation would be different depending on the types of voluntary
associations.
4 Data and Methods
We constructed a pooled sample based on the data from a nationally representa-
tive survey, the Current Social Integration Survey (sahoe-tonghab-siltae-josa)
conducted by the KIPA from 2015 to 2018. Although the survey has been conducted
every year since 2011, the main variables of our focus – memberships in volun-
teering/philanthropy organizations – have been added in 2015. A targeted sample
of 8000 respondents (except in 2015, which was 7700) were selected through multi-
stage probability ratio sampling each year. In other words, the first stage used the
probability proportional systematic sampling method to sample survey areas, the
second stage sampled households based on the systematic sampling method, and
all the appropriate household members were surveyed in the third stage (KIPA
2018). The survey was conducted by having interviewers visiting the sampled
households and interviewing the household members. To prevent oversampling of
a certain group that is likely to be at home, the survey was continued by controlling
the respondent characteristics, such as area, gender, and age groups, from the
point of about 70% of completion (KIPA 2018). After cleaning missing values, our
final sample includes 31,700 observations from 2015 to 2018. The survey was
conducted in Korean.
4.1 Dependent Variables
We measured political participation using two variables: 1) political activities and
2) voting. First, in the survey, respondents were asked, “Have you done the
following activities related to political/social issues?” and eight items wereInvolvement and Political Participation in South Korea 11
provided, including 1) Talking about political issues with the people around you, 2)
Posting opinions on blogs/Twitter/Facebook/online forums, 3) Making sugges-
tions to government or media, 4) Participating in the signature collection
(including online), 5) Submitting petitions, 6) Participating in protests, 7) Making
suggestions directly to public officials or politicians, and 8) Participating in boy-
cotts. On each item, the survey provided a four-point rating scale from 1) I have
done it in the last one year; 2) It wasn’t in the last year, but I have, a long time ago;
3) I have never done it, but I am willing to try it in the future; 4) I have never done it
and not willing to try it either. We considered each of the political activities a binary
variable; those who answered that “they have done it”—selected 1 and 2—are
coded as 1, and the others who have no experience – selected 3 and 4 – are coded as
0. Then, we added up the binary measures of eight political activities; in other
words, the resulting variable of political activities ranges from 0 to 8. Those who
have not done any of the political activities were coded as 0, and those who have
done all the political activities were coded as 8.
Second, voting was measured based on the survey question asking whether
the respondent has voted in different levels of election (e.g. president, national
assembly members, and local administrators) in recent years. If the respondent
voted in any level of election, it is coded as 1, otherwise 0. However, to measure
their most recent voting participation, we included the responses for the election of
the last year from the response date. For example, in the 2015 and 2018 surveys, we
considered whether respondents voted in the nationwide local election in 2014 and
2017, respectively. In the 2017 survey, the responses for the voting in the presi-
dential election in 2016 were considered. And in the 2016 survey, we included the
responses for the national assembly election, which was held in 2015. Figure 2
shows the percentage of the respondents who have engaged in political activities
in the previous year.
Figure 2: Percentage of the respondents who have engaged in political activities and voting.12 W. No et al.
4.2 Independent Variables
Our key independent variables of interest are memberships and participation in
voluntary associations. In the survey, respondents were asked, “to what extent do
you participate in these social organizations?” and nine types of voluntary asso-
ciations were listed, including political party, labor union or business association,
religious organization, club (e.g. sports, leisure, culture), civil society organiza-
tion, community organization (e.g. neighborhood association), alumni associa-
tion, volunteering/philanthropy organization, and social economy organization
(e.g. social enterprise, co-ops). For each type of voluntary association, the survey
provided a five-point rating scale, including 1) I have never been a member, 2) I
have been a member in the past but not anymore, 3) I am a member but do not
participate in any activities, 4) I am a member and occasionally participate, and 5) I
am a member and actively participate.
We considered three different variables for the memberships and participation
in voluntary associations: 1) activeness of participation in each organization, 2)
membership in each organization, and 3) the total number of memberships. First,
we used the five-scale point responses to consider to what extent a respondent
actively participates in each organization’s activities. Second, the activeness of
participation was transferred to whether or not the respondent is a member of each
organization. When the respondent answered that they are a member—in other
words, selected 3, 4, or 5—their responses were re-coded as 1, and non-members,
who selected 1 or 2, were re-coded as 0. We used this binary variable for the
membership in each organization. Third, the total number of memberships was
calculated by the sum of the membership in each organization.
4.3 Control Variables
Based on the literature, we controlled for the respondent’s perspectives on various
political, social issues and activities, and demographic characteristics. The survey
provided one’s belief on the importance of participating in various political/social
activities (e.g. voting, paying taxes, complying with rules and laws, paying attention
to what the government does, actively participating in social/political organiza-
tions) and political efficacy (e.g. to what extent the respondents think that ordinary
citizens (they) can affect government affairs, the government is interested in their
thoughts and opinions, they are well aware of current political issues, and others are
aware of current political issues better than themselves) (Ardèvol-Abreu, Gil de
Zúñiga, and Gámez 2020; Hu, Sun, and Wu 2015; Li and Zhang 2017; Vecchione and
Caprara 2009). Related to social trust, we included respondents’ trust in different
groups of people (Hu, Sun, and Wu 2015; Quintelier 2008; Wollebæk and StrømsnesInvolvement and Political Participation in South Korea 13 2008). A summative index of trust in individuals: trust in family, neighbors, friends, strangers whom they have met for the first time, and foreigners (people from different countries) was included in the analysis. In addition, we included re- spondents’ trust in different institutions (Huang et al. 2020) and to what extent they believe each institution is corrupted (Shaw, Roberts, and Baek 2021). We included three different summative indexes regarding trust in and perceived anti-corruption of institutions: central government, media (Television and newspaper), and civil society (labor unions and CSOs). In addition, we controlled for one’s demographic characteristics and socioeconomic status, such as gender (Alexander et al. 2012; Frisco, Muller, and Dodson 2004; Lee 2010; Li and Zhang 2017), age (Kim 2005; Lee 2010; Li and Zhang 2017; Park and Shin 2005), educational attainment (Brady et al. 1995; Kim 2005; Lee 2010; Li and Zhang 2017), marital status (Glanville 2004), household income (La Due Lake and Huckfeldt 1998; Lee and Glasure 2007; Li and Zhang 2017; Park and Shin 2005), region (Alexander et al. 2012; Frisco, Muller, and Dodson 2004), years lived in the area (Alexander et al. 2012; Glanville 2004), and living in the urban or rural area (Carreras and Bowler 2019; Frisco, Muller, and Dodson 2004; Lee 2010; Park and Shin 2005). Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics of all variables we considered in the model. Table : Descriptive statistics of the variables (N = ,). Variables % Mean S.D. Min Max Political activities (index) . . Total number of organizations holding a membership . . Membership in Political parties . Labor unions/Business associations . Religious organizations . Clubs . CSOs . Community organizations . Volunteering/Philanthropy organizations . Alumni associations . Social economy organizations . Active participation in Political parties . . Labor unions/Business associations . . Religious organizations . . Clubs . . CSOs . . Community organizations . . Volunteering/Philanthropy organizations . . Alumni associations . . Social economy organizations . .
14 W. No et al. Table : (continued) Variables % Mean S.D. Min Max Importance of Voting . . Paying tax . . Complying with rules and laws . . Paying attention to government affairs . . Being aware of current social/political issues . . Political efficacy Ordinary citizens can affect the gov’t affairs . . Gov’t is not interested in what citizens think . . I am aware of important political current issues . . Others know better than me about political current issues . . and government affairs Trust in Individuals . . Central government . . Media . . Civil society . . Gender Male . Female . Age – . The s . The s . The s . The s Household monthly income Less than million (KRW) . – million . – million . – million . – million . – million . More than million . Education Less than elementary . Middle-school graduate . High-school graduate . More than a college/university degree . Years lived in the area . . Marital status Never married . Married . Widowed . Divorced .
Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea 15 Table : (continued) Variables % Mean S.D. Min Max Regions Seoul city . Busan city . Daegu city . Incheon city . Gwangju city . Daejeon city . Ulsan city . Sejong city . Gyeonggi province . Gangwon province . Chungbuk province . Chungnam province . Jeonbuk province . Jeonnam province . Gyeongbuk province . Gyeongnam province . Jeju province . Urban Urban . Rural . 5 Methods To test our hypotheses, we examined six different models. The first set included three models considering the index of political activities, and the second set included three models examining voting participation. Considering the nature of dependent variables, we used regression analysis in the first set of the models and logistic regression analysis in the second set of the models. 6 Results 6.1 Political Activities and Voluntary Association Involvement We tested our hypotheses on how engagement in political activities is affected by membership and active participation in voluntary associations. Table 3 shows the results of the regression analysis of the three models (see Appendix A for full results).
16 W. No et al.
Table : Regression analysis results: political activities and membership and participation in
voluntary associations.
Model - Model - Model -
(total (membership) (active
membership) participation)
Coef. (robust std. err.)
Membership total .a (.)
Political parties .a (.) .a (.)
Labor unions/Business associations .a (.) .a (.)
Religious organizations .a (.) .a (.)
Clubs .a (.) .a (.)
CSOs .a (.) .a (.)
Community organizations .a (.) .a (.)
Volunteering/Philanthropy .a (.) .a (.)
organizations
Alumni associations −. (.) −. (.)
Social economy organizations .b (.) . (.)
N , , ,
R . . .
a
p < ., bp < .. The table shows the results of the main variables of our focus. See Appendix A for full results.
In model 1-1, we first considered the total number of voluntary associations that
a respondent holds membership. This model shows how being a member of
multiple voluntary associations affects one’s engagement in political activities. The
result suggests that the total number of membership organizations is statistically
significantly associated (p < 0.01) with one’s engagement in political activities. For
each additional membership organization involved in, one would be engaging in
about 0.212 more political activities on average, holding others constant.
In model 1-2, we examined how membership in different voluntary associa-
tions affects one’s engagement in political activities. The results suggest that most
types of membership, but not all, are significantly and positively associated with
engagement in political activities. People are more engaged in political activities
than non-members if they are a member of political parties, labor unions/business
associations, religious organizations, clubs, civil society organizations (CSOs),
community organizations, volunteering/philanthropy organizations, and social
economy organizations. The most influential memberships are the membership in
labor unions/business associations (β = 0.059), and the least influential mem-
bership is the membership in religious organizations (β = 0.024).1 Meanwhile,
1 In order to compare the relative significance of the coefficients, here we report the standardized
coefficient (β). Please note that unstandardized coefficients are reported in the results table.Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea 17
being a member of alumni associations does not have a statistically significant
influence on political engagement.
In model 1-3, we considered how active participation in voluntary associations
affects one’s engagement in political activities. Similar to model 1-2, activeness of
the participation in most of the associations are significantly and positively
associated (p < 0.01) with the engagement in political activities. People are more
engaged in political activities when they more actively participate in political
parties, labor unions/business associations, religious organizations, clubs,
CSOs, community organizations, and volunteering/philanthropy organizations,
compared to those who less actively participate. Among the different types of
voluntary associations, labor unions/business associations are the most influen-
tial (β = 0.072), and religious organizations are the least (β = 0.026). Being a
member of either alumni associations or social economy organizations does not
significantly influence engagement in political activities.
6.2 Voting Participation and Voluntary Association
Involvement
We also examined how voting participation is affected by membership and active
participation in voluntary associations. Table 4 shows the three models’ logistic
regression analysis results (see Appendix B for full results).
Table : Logistic regression analysis results: voting and membership and participation in
voluntary associations.
Model - Model - Model -
(total membership) (membership) (active participation)
Odds ratio (std. err.)
Membership total . (.)
a
Political parties .b (.) .b (.)
Labor unions/Business associations . (.) . (.)
Religious orgs .b (.) . (.)
Clubs .b (.) .b (.)
CSOs . (.) . (.)
Community orgs .a (.) .a (.)
Volunteering/Philanthropy orgs .b (.) .b (.)
Alumni associations . (.) . (.)
Social-economic orgs . (.) . (.)
N , , ,
Pseudo R . . .
a
p < ., bp < .. See Appendix A for full results with covariates.18 W. No et al.
Model 2-1 shows how being a member of multiple voluntary associations
affects one’s voting participation. The result suggests that the total number of
organizations is statistically significantly associated (p < 0.01) with whether or not
the person votes in the election. More specifically, those who are a member of more
voluntary associations are about 10.5% more likely to vote than their counterparts
who hold a fewer number of voluntary association memberships.
In model 2-2, we examined how membership in different voluntary associa-
tions affects voting participation. The results suggest that only some types of
membership are significantly and positively associated with voting. The odds of
voting for members of political parties (36%, p < 0.05), clubs (9.6%, p < 0.05),
community organizations (33.6%, p < 0.01), volunteering/philanthropy organi-
zations (25.4%, p < 0.01), and religious organizations (24.9%, p < 0.05) are higher
than non-members in each organization.
In model 2-3, we considered how active participation in voluntary associations
affects voting. Similar to model 2-2, active participation in only some types of
voluntary associations is significantly and positively associated with voting.
Specifically, people are more likely to vote when they more actively participate in
these voluntary associations than their counterparts in political parties (10.4%,
p < 0.05), clubs (4%, p < 0.05), community organizations (11.5%, p < 0.01), and
voluntary/philanthropy organizations (7.1%, p < 0.05).
In sum, the results show that our hypotheses, which posit positive relation-
ships between 1) associational membership and political participation (H1) and 2)
active participation and political participation (H2), are supported. In addition,
depending on the types of voluntary association, the effects of associational
membership (H3), and active participation (H4) on political participation appear
differently, as expected.
7 Discussions and Conclusions
Our findings suggest that voluntary association involvement is positively associ-
ated with political participation in South Korea in general. More membership in
voluntary associations is associated with more engagement in political activities
and higher odds of voting. The findings of this study suggest that the civil society in
South Korea may have been matured now and shifted with a stronger democracy so
that Putnam (1995)’s notion—associational interactions facilitate democratic
participation—could be applied.
We also found that membership and engagement in different types of volun-
tary associations affect political participation differently. It is worth noting that
while engaging in political activities is positively associated with most of theInvolvement and Political Participation in South Korea 19
voluntary association memberships we considered, voting in elections is only
associated with membership in some voluntary associations. Most of the voluntary
associations’ memberships—political parties, labor unions, religious organiza-
tions, clubs, CSOs, community organizations, and volunteering/philanthropy or-
ganizations—are positively associated with engaging in political activities in South
Korea. When considering the extent of active participation, the significant asso-
ciations appear similarly. Meanwhile, voting in elections is only positively related
to membership in political parties, clubs, community organizations, and volun-
teering/philanthropy organizations. The significant relationships appear similarly
when looking at the extent of active participation in each organization.
To explain the results of the relationship between voluntary association
involvement and engagement in political activities, we may need to focus on how
an individual becomes a member of such different voluntary associations. Except
for alumni associations, all the significant relationships appear in the voluntary
associations that one joins based on their interests, and the membership is entirely
voluntary. Most of them are instrumental voluntary associations that tend to focus
on the goals outside the groups (Glanville 2004; Stoll 2001). On the contrary,
alumni association members are not grouped based on their interests but because
they went to the same school or are from the same regions. Moreover, the school
alumni associations’ memberships are often not that voluntary, and sometimes
people are automatically joined once they graduate from the school. It means that
the members are more likely to be diverse in their characteristics, interests, and
beliefs than other voluntary associations. When the members are not homoge-
neous in their interests and beliefs, they are less likely to discuss their political
perspectives (Bello and Rolfe 2014). In addition, the school alumni associations
may be categorized as expressive voluntary associations, which tend to have more
in-group objectives (Glanville 2004; Stoll 2001). Expressive voluntary associations
help create an interpersonal identity but are relatively easy to leave, so that less
likely to help develop political skills that are helpful in political engagement
(Warren 2001). Therefore, membership and active participation in alumni associ-
ations may not be related to one’s engagement in political activities.
In addition, although membership in social economy organizations increases
one’s political activities, active participation in social economy organizations is
not associated with active engagement in political activities. Examples of social
economy organizations are social enterprises and co-ops. Since most of these
organizations aim at promoting social justice and supporting socially vulnerable
groups of people by emphasizing solidarity (Kim and Jeong 2014), those who join
social economy organizations as members are likely to have similar interests.
However, the members, not the managers or employees, of social economy orga-
nizations may have less chance of meetings or gatherings than other voluntary20 W. No et al.
associations. Therefore, active participation in social economy organizations may
not be significantly associated with political activities, while membership in social
economy organizations does.
Interestingly, voting in elections is only positively associated with mem-
bership in political parties, clubs, community organizations, and volunteering/
philanthropy organizations. We may need to consider the different amounts of
time and efforts that each political activity in daily life and voting require. In
addition, people who join political parties would be more interested in political
issues and willing to participate in political activities and voting than any others.
Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that members of community organizations and
volunteering/philanthropy organizations are also more likely to vote. It aligns
with the findings of Kwak (2007), which showed that participation in community
organizations as a whole (e.g. neighborhood organizations, government com-
munity centers, community volunteering organizations) is positively related to
voting. Since the members of community organizations and volunteering/phi-
lanthropy organizations are more likely to be based in the same region than other
associations, they may have more opportunities to discuss similar social/polit-
ical issues and the capability and qualifications of electoral candidates, which
could lead to higher odds of voting. In addition, as many of the volunteering/
philanthropy organizations are initiated and financially supported by the gov-
ernment (Woo and Kim 2015), the members of these organizations could be
motivated to vote to seek either new or continued support from the government.
Furthermore, although membership and active participation in CSOs are posi-
tively related to political activities, those are not significantly related to voting.
This interesting finding may be explained by the characteristics of South Korean
CSOs. As they have mainly undertaken the roles of monitoring the government’s
performances and led various social reforms in South Korea (Kim and Hwang
2002; Oh 2012; Shin and Moon 2017), members of the CSOs may emphasize
engaging in political activities directly to promote social changes more than
voting, relatively.
Our study expands the understanding of the relationship between voluntary
association involvement and political participation. In particular, our findings
suggest that matured civil society can provide opportunities for citizens to engage
in various political activities in daily life and voting in different levels of elections,
even in new democracies. In addition, the findings provide policy implications for
those who would like to foster political participation in society. To help people get
more involved in political activities in daily life, it may be more effective to promote
their engagement in voluntary associations. Based on our findings, we suggest
focusing on those voluntary associations in which people more voluntarily engage
with their common interests.Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea 21
Despite its contributions, this study is not free from limitations. First, the
survey items asking the respondent’s voluntary association involvement did not
specify the exact membership period or when they have joined the association as a
member. In the survey, participants were asked to report their memberships and
participation in voluntary associations from the past, not just within the last year.
To reduce possible buffers that may hinder clear relationships between voluntary
association involvement and political participation, we limited the dependent
variable, political participation, to participation in the last year from the response
date. Second, although the data we used is a representative survey of multiple
years, it is not longitudinal data tracking the same panel. Therefore, we could not
examine the causal relationship between one’s voluntary association involvement
and political participation. Although this study advances the literature by
analyzing the data collected in multiple years, future studies could employ a
longitudinal study so that we could further explore the causal relationship be-
tween voluntary association involvement and political participation.
Appendix A: Full Results of Regression Analyses:
Political Activities and Membership/
Participation in Voluntary
Associations
Model - Model Model -
(total - (active
membership) (membership) participation)
Coef. (robust std. err.)
Membership total . (.)
a
Political parties .a (.) .a (.)
Labor unions/Business associations .a (.) .a (.)
Religious orgs .a (.) .a (.)
Clubs .a (.) .a (.)
CSOs .a (.) .a (.)
Community orgs .a (.) .a (.)
Volunteering/Philanthropy orgs .a (.) .a (.)
Alumni associations −. (.) −. (.)
Socio-economic orgs .b (.) . (.)
Importance of
Voting .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Paying tax −. (.) −. (.) −. (.)22 W. No et al.
(continued)
Model - Model Model -
(total - (active
membership) (membership) participation)
Coef. (robust std. err.)
Complying with rules and laws −. (.) −. (.) −. (.)
Paying attention to government affairs .a (.) .b (.) .b (.)
Being aware of current social/political −.a (.) −.a −.a (.)
issues (.)
Political efficacy
Ordinary citizens can affect the gov’t −.a (.) −.a −.a (.)
affairs (.)
Gov’t is not interested in what citizens .b (.) .b (.) .b (.)
think
I am aware of important political current .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
issues
Others know better than me about polit- −.a (.) −.a −.a (.)
ical current issues and government (.)
affairs
Trust in
Individuals . (.) . (.) . (.)
Central government −.a (.) −.a −.a (.)
(.)
Media −.a (.) −.a −.a (.)
(.)
Civil society .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Gender . (.) . (.) . (.)
Age .a (.) −.a −.a (.)
(.)
Household income .b (.) . (.) . (.)
Education .b (.) .b (.) .b (.)
Years lived in the area −.a (.) −.a −.a (.)
(.)
Marital status . (.) . (.) . (.)
Regions −. (.) −. (.) −.b (.)
Urban . (.) . (.) . (.)
Year
−.a (.) −.a −.a (.)
(.)
−. (.) −. (.) . (.)
−.b −.b −.b (.)
(.) (.)
Cons .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
N , , ,
R . . .
a
p < ., bp < ..Involvement and Political Participation in South Korea 23
Appendix B: Full Results of Logistic Analyses:
Voting and Membership/Participa-
tion in Voluntary Associations
Model – (total Model - Model – (active
membership) (membership) participation)
Odds Ratio (Std. Err.)
Membership total . (.)
a
Political parties .b (.) .b (.)
Labor unions/Business . (.) . (.)
associations
Religious orgs .b (.) . (.)
Clubs .b (.) .b (.)
CSOs . (.) . (.)
Community orgs .a (.) .a (.)
Volunteering/Philanthropy orgs .b (.) .b (.)
Alumni associations . (.) . (.)
Socio-economic orgs . (.) . (.)
Importance of
Voting .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Paying tax . (.) . (.) . (.)
Complying with rules and laws . (.) . (.) . (.)
Paying attention to government . (.) . (.) . (.)
affairs
Being aware of current social/ .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
political issues
Political efficacy
Ordinary citizens can affect the .b (.) .b (.) .b (.)
gov’t affairs
Gov’t is not interested in what . (.) . (.) . (.)
citizens think
I am aware of important political .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
current issues
Others know better than me . (.) . (.) . (.)
about political current issues and
government affairs
Trust in
Individuals .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Central government . (.) . (.) . (.)
Media . (.) . (.) . (.)
Civil society . (.) . (.) . (.)24 W. No et al.
(continued)
Model – (total Model - Model – (active
membership) (membership) participation)
Odds Ratio (Std. Err.)
Gender . (.) . (.) . (.)
Age .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Household income .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Education .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Years lived in the area .a (.) .a (.) .b (.)
Marital status .b (.) .b (.) .b (.)
Region . (.) . (.) . (.)
Urban .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Year
.a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
.a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
.a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
Constant .a (.) .a (.) .a (.)
N , , ,
Pseudo R . . .
a
p < ., bp < ..
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