Prologue│Why does a country need democracy?

Part 1 What is a State?

Chapter 1 Imagine a world without a state…
A nation full of words and troubles... Is a world without a nation possible? Was Hae-gap, who "fled south," truly happy? Why the nation must be used wisely.

Chapter 2: We Ride on Leviathan's Back
The story of an Iranian trapped in a Paris airport for 18 years│The state, a creation made by humans│Hobbes ponders the reason for the state's existence│How to stop the war of all against all│The birth of a monster... Will we handle it well or become prey?

Chapter 3: A Nation That Does Not Serve You Has No Need to Exist
Gilgamesh, the birth of an overwhelming human being│A leader's virtues are more important than great power│A nation is a means to address the needs of the community│Why did Bismarck, an iron-fisted conservative, introduce the world's first social security system?│'Sharing the cake' vs. 'Safety pins that block anxiety'│The greater the government's intervention, the less individual freedom?│What is the difference between good welfare and populism?│Welfare is a duty of a democratic nation.

Chapter 4 What is the most powerful weapon for controlling power in human history?
Americans Didn't Like Democracy│Ancient Greece: "Democracy is a corrupted form of politics"│"The people want what's good, but they don't always know what it is."│The Enlightenment philosophers loved democracy?│Revolution, war, and America... The secret to democracy's critical popularity│Democracy, the soil where insight and innovation grow

Part 2: How Democracy Collapses

Chapter 5: What Happens When Parliament Becomes a League of Its Own: The Rise of Oligarchy and the Fall of Representative Democracy
Congress can be transformed into a tool of oligarchy at any time. │ What's happening in Venezuela, where 94 percent live in poverty? │ The two major parties share the profits from oil. │ A diverse Congress is a prerequisite for democratic success. │ The power of democratic success: a thinking voter.

Chapter 6: A People Ready to Be Deceived by the Leader's Schemes: The Black-and-White Logic of the Factions
'There is only foul language and incitement, and deliberation and compromise have disappeared'│I was deceived.
But I was prepared to be deceived.│How does factional logic brainwash us?│YouTube, a rotten flower blooming on factional logic.│Fandom politics, blind love corrupts people.│Distrust those in power! But be wise!

Chapter 7: The True Nature of the Most Powerful Power, Uncontrollable Even by the Japanese Prime Minister: Bureaucratic Incompetence and Corruption
The narrow perspective and conservatism of bureaucracies│Why do they resist change│A country controlled by bureaucracies has no future│Why did bureaucrats say there was no liquidity crisis just before the IMF financial crisis?│Japan's lost 30 years... How did bureaucrats influence businesspeople and politicians?

Part 3: Countries that became monsters

Chapter 8: How Do Leaders Who Wield Absolute Power Overthrow Nations?: The Case of Venezuela
The Illusion of Strong Leadership│From Military Coup to Oligarchy, the World's Largest Oil Producer Becomes a Corrupt Paradise│Chavez: The Rise of Another Absolute Power│'My-Face Politics': Private Profits at the Cost of People's Lives

Chapter 9: Why Are Italian Youth Embarking on the Exodus?: The Case of Italy
An absurd daily life in Rome│The Mani Pulite scandal that shook Italy│Gang politics engulfs Italy│The prime minister who has become a laughing stock in Europe│The A3 motorway completed after 54 years│Young people with no future embark on an exodus│Korea's future is not the Italian way

Chapter 10: How Coups Destroy Democracy: The Cases of Chile and France
The atrocities of a monster state, a traumatized people│Chile's Pinochet bombs the presidential palace with fighter jets│Louis Napoleon's coup d'état, dreaming of absolute power│How authoritarian leaders seize power│How Korea must avoid regressing to authoritarianism

Part 4: What kind of country does Korea dream of becoming?

Chapter 11: Compete with a Vision for the Challenges of Our Times: The Role of Liberal and Conservative Forces
Lost Common Values ​​and Visions│Living 'Long' with People with 'Different Memories'│How Has Korean Conservatism Grow?│Conservative Identity: Why We Must Transcend Anti-Communism and Authoritarianism│What Vision Does Conservatism Have for the Future of Korea?│The Democratic Party, the Biggest Beneficiary of the Two-Party System│Civil Society Can Leave the Democratic Party at Any Time│Find Freedom and Conservatism: Democratic Coexistence

Chapter 12: Why is 'consensus' important to 21st-century leaders?: The role and conditions of leadership.
In this rapidly changing era, what qualities does a good leader need? │Weber: Those who become zombies of power throw the world into chaos │Democracy: Choosing a safe national power │A leader who does not follow the law has no need to exist │How can we find common ground amidst 'differences'?

Chapter 13: What Determines Korea's Future Competitiveness?: Political, Social, and Economic Systems
Future Competitiveness ① Fairness and Participation│Future Competitiveness ② National System Reform│Future Competitiveness ③ Talent War and Openness

Epilogue│Democracy is the Path to a Nation's Future Competitiveness
Acknowledgments and References

Is the state a monster or a benevolent guardian?

The only power that controls the country,
Pay attention to democracy

Today we live in an age where it is impossible to explain existence without leaving the country.
There is no space on Earth that is not part of a country's territory, except for the North and South Poles and the high seas, and you cannot even enter a foreign country without a passport that specifies your nationality.
Although the state is deeply intertwined with the lives of individuals, it is essentially a human-made artifact.
According to Thomas Hobbes, in order to stop the state of 'war of all against all', humans gave up their 'natural rights' and delegated that authority to an artificial person, the state.
Nations, strengthened by the combined power of individuals, have shaped human history by pursuing the safety and peace of the community.
Hobbes declared that there was nothing on earth that could stand against the state, and 400 years later, his prediction has come true.

If we look at defense spending today, we find that there is no entity capable of mobilizing greater military power than a nation.
According to the 2023 global defense budget data, the United States spends 1,167 trillion won annually, China 338 trillion won, South Korea 61.5 trillion won, and Japan 61 trillion won.
The reason the state has become so powerful is because of the positive role it plays.
While the early states guaranteed life from external enemies, the role of the state has become so sophisticated in modern times that there is no field beyond its reach, including not only the economy but also politics, diplomacy, and culture.
In particular, the government has contributed to the safety and well-being of its citizens by providing various services, such as investing in future technologies, redistributing wealth, expanding low-profit social infrastructure such as highway construction, and preparing facilities for epidemics and large-scale disasters such as pandemics and wildfires.


Despite these positive roles, however, predictions of the collapse of the state persist among political scientists and historians today.
In fact, the era in which one nation destroyed another by force, as in past history, is over.
As the 2021 war in Afghanistan and the current war in Ukraine demonstrate, the economic losses from war far outweigh the gains for the aggressor nation.
Why, then, does the national crisis persist? It arises when the state's immense power is not properly controlled.
When a few people monopolize power, political and economic corruption occurs, ultimately leading to paralysis of the country.
Citizens are forced into poverty or flee abroad as economic activity becomes difficult.
Ultimately, the fact that a minority monopolizes power means that the democracy that controls the country is not functioning properly.
The moment power escapes the checks and balances of the citizens, the state can turn into a 'dangerous' entity at any time.


“I said earlier, “We must understand what a nation is.
“You have to understand it to use it properly,” he said.
Now, we could rephrase this statement like this:
“We are riding on the back of Leviathan.
You must know how to properly handle monsters.
If you don't, you might fall off the monster's back and become food." - From the author's note

How does a nation become a monster?

From coups to corruption
How Unchecked Power Destroys Nations

Today, the world is experiencing a surge in threats to democracy.
In the US, Trump took office after the Capitol riot, and in Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party became the second-largest political party.
In South Korea, the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, but protests by the opposition continue.
As history has proven, the actions of these authoritarian forces threaten democracy and ultimately turn the nation into a monster.
A nation that has become a monster paralyzes the legislative, judicial, and executive functions based on democracy and the constitution, and leads the economy to bankruptcy.
People are left to suffer from poverty or are forced to flee abroad.
The author identifies three enemies that can turn a democratic nation into a monster.
The first is the breakdown of representative democracy, that is, when parliament has degenerated into an oligarchy.
The voice of the people is silenced, and the two major parties divide power like pie.
The case of Venezuela is representative.


In October 1958, Venezuela's two major political parties, the Christian Socialist Party and the Democratic Action Party, signed a special agreement.
The agreement calls for the two parties to share the profits from the oil industry, with the winning party agreeing to hand out key government and related positions to its supporters.
Because its main source of income was oil, it had no need to worry about voters, and its administration was dominated by corruption, incompetence, and inefficiency from the two major parties.
The problem began to erupt in 1989 as international crude oil prices began to fall.
The exchange rate skyrocketed and prices soared.
As unemployment soared, citizens rose up, and the military suppressed them, resulting in the deaths of about 3,000 people.
Ultimately, Venezuela's GDP fell by more than 75 percent between 2013 and 2021, and 94 percent of the population fell into poverty in 2021.

The second is when dialogue and agreement disappear as camp logic prevails.
Camp logic divides all issues into good for one side and evil for the other.
This stimulates the human psyche, inducing brainwashing and ultimately inciting hatred and contempt for the other person, leading to violence.
Hitler and the Nazi Party are representative examples.
When the German military leadership lost World War I, they spread the lie that the defeat was due to the "Dolchlegende", the betrayal of the socialists and Jews.
A significant number of German citizens, their pride wounded by the defeat in the war, were deceived by these lies.
Hitler and his followers exploited this psychology of the German people and eventually seized power.
As a result, Hitler and the Nazi Party committed an atrocity that will be recorded in human history, murdering 6 million socialists and Jews over 12 years.


The third is the incompetence of the bureaucracy and the power-type corruption of bureaucrats.
Japan is a good example of what kind of difficulties a country faces when a bureaucracy mired in organizational egoism takes control of politics.
Japanese scholar Yoshimi Shunya, analyzing Japan's "lost 30 years," argues that Japanese politics was dominated by bureaucrats.
Unlike other countries, Japanese officials not only drafted laws but also held the authority to grant permits for various businesses, and had the power to order businesspeople to "do this" and "don't do that" under the guise of administrative guidance.
Regarding this, Sunya wrote, “It was politicians who performed the drama on stage, but it was usually bureaucrats who directed it.”


The most important cause of the country's downfall is its citizens.
The forces that led the nation to its downfall did not threaten its citizens only with guns and swords.
Because there were quite a few people who supported them in seizing power.
The victory of authoritarian forces was possible because there were those who believed that it was okay to destroy the constitutional order and the principles of democracy in order to achieve what they believed in.
Even today, democracy is threatened by numerous authoritarian forces around the world.
We must not forget that without citizen oversight and checks and balances, democracy can collapse at any time.

How will we shape the future of the Republic of Korea?
The key again is democracy!

A democratic system prevents power from being concentrated in the hands of a specific individual or group, preventing anyone from wielding dictatorial power.
The bureaucracy is controlled by a president or prime minister elected by the people and ministers appointed by them, and operates according to laws and principles established by the legislature.
In human history, it is very rare for state power to be institutionally controlled like this.
Amartya Sen, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, said that democracy has a positive effect on social development by controlling state power, and Acemoglu, a professor at MIT and author of Why Nations Fail, said that democracy makes a crucial contribution to the growth and prosperity of a country.
In a system of absolute power, one wrong decision can lead to the destruction of the entire community, but in a democratic system, the decentralization of power and mutual checks and balances relatively reduce such risk.
Moreover, in a democratic society, diverse opinions can be expressed, allowing important insights to be actively reflected and institutional innovation to flourish.

We take democracy for granted, but only 200 years ago, few would have predicted that this system would become mainstream.
According to the Federalist Message, published in 1787, even the leaders who laid the foundations of what is now the United States harbored deep doubts about democracy, especially about equal suffrage.
They worried that if the influence of ordinary citizens, such as farmers, self-employed people, and small business owners, grew too large, "tyranny of the majority" would become inevitable.
In fact, popular political participation has historically faced opposition for a long time.
The ancient Plato was critical of democracy, and even Rousseau, who had a great influence on the French Revolution, warned that the people's judgment was not always right.
John Stuart Mill went even further, proposing to differentiate suffrage based on education and wealth.

How did a democracy so fraught with discontent gain such global support? Revolution, war, and the influence of the United States played a significant role.
According to Acemoglu, the right to vote was first granted to adult men and women as a compromise to a series of revolutions that swept through 19th-century Europe, including the July Revolution and the February Revolution.
In fact, Lord Grey of England even stated that the expansion of the franchise in 1832 was a measure to prevent revolution.
Meanwhile, according to Casey, author of "The Right to Vote," the war played a decisive role in expanding the right to vote.
As the 20th century began, the scale of war grew and developed into total war, forcing not only soldiers but also women and children to work day and night at military factories, operating machines.
In this process, when the entire nation was mobilized for war, the ruling elites gave up their right to vote as compensation.

Finally, the influence of the United States cannot be overlooked in the background of the spread of democracy.
In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, President Wilson put forward "democracy" as a slogan symbolizing America's identity and ideology in opposition to German militarism.
He described the war as a "holy war" to protect and spread democracy around the world, and it brought the United States into the international spotlight.
Afterwards, as the system competed with the socialist bloc, including the Soviet Union, a global craze for democracy began to rise.

Democracy is not simply a system for controlling state power.
It is also the future competitiveness of the country today.
A sustainable future cannot exist in a society where corruption is rampant and individual rights are ignored.
Creativity, innovation, and fairness are only possible when democracy is guaranteed.
If democracy collapses, young talent will have no reason to stay in their country, and attracting talent from abroad will become impossible.
Moreover, no country would accept an authoritarian state as a partner in human rights and the environment.
In the end, even our right to pursue happiness cannot be guaranteed.
Because stability, abundance, and fulfillment of life can only be achieved through democracy.

“I wrote this book for those who are concerned about the reality of Korean democracy.
As many people acknowledge, democracy is not perfect.
But there is no more effective way (at least not yet) to ensure that the powerful force of the state serves our well-being rather than destroying our lives than democracy.
Democracy remains a wonderful and attractive object in which to 'invest' our blood and sweat.” - From the text