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Bioethical issues have become one of the significant policy issues, but there is a general lack of academic studies in political science to approach the issue—especially, addressing how the governance for such issue has been (and is) established. This paper will discuss the process of establishing governance for regulating bioethical issues, and will use South Korea, which passed "Korean Bioethics and Biosafety Act of 2003" in National Assembly, as the primary case study. The case will examine the three conditions that are required in establishing bioethical governance: (1) technological advancement, (2) issue-framing, and (3) political interest. Technological advancement, e.g., cloning, is a precondition to require regulations of technology. This precondition becomes effective in making bioethical governance when non-governmental organizations (NGOs) emphasize particular issues over the technology advancement. The bioethical governance, however, is completed only when it is related to the political interest of legislators and governmental officials. Finally, this paper will show how these conditions can be applied to other biotechnological issues, such as genetically modified (GM) food issues. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet has stimulated academic inquiries on the political implications of the Internet use. In this study, we explore the democratic implications of the Internet in the context of the interplay between information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the nature of civic engagement. As the advancement of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has become indispensable in the United States (Hoffman, Novak, Venkatesh, 2004) and other countries, it is becoming prevalent for the general public to use the Internet for civic engagement and for overcoming silence in political issues. For instance, the Internet has started to make significant impacts on politics. The U.S. presidential election in 2000 was a beginning of Internet use in political campaign as Bimber & Davis (2003) contend. Four years later in 2004, political parties, candidates, and other organizations used the Internet to effectively mobilize voters and to promote candidates' visions (Jacobs, 2005). In South Korea, many claims that the victory of a disadvantaged presidential candidate had owned much to an online campaigning (French, 2003). It is inevitable that various socio-political factors are influencing use of the Internet for political purposes, but previous studies have not included cross-country comparison. Given that the exploration of the impact of the Internet on political changes is still in its infancy, more empirical work must be done before the link between ICTs and democratic development can be theorized. In this study, the central question investigated is: had the Internet altered the nature of civic engagement and political participation in the recent presidential elections? We use a qualitative case study method to compare and contrast the use of the Internet for recent presidential campaigns in the U.S. and Korea. To investigate the role of ICTs in political campaigns, we will particularly discuss the three areas of influence (fundraising, young voter turnout, and e-mobilization) and identify similarities and differences between the U.S. and Korea. The result of our analysis shows that the impact of the Internet on the two presidential elections differed at each of these three areas. The impact of the Internet on democratic development should not be overstated. Our main argument is twofold. First, the Internet provides ordinary citizens with political resources and opportunities to expand their political participation in a democratic environment. Second, Internet-based collective action does or does not lead to political changes depending on the interaction pattern between the state and society. While political implications of ICTs come to the fore, the predominant factor in the recent presidential elections remained traditional representative mechanisms. These results will shed lights on social and organizational practices to use ICTs for political activities in two different countries. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the success of Singapore's authoritarian rule and state transformation. The capacity of the country's People's Action Party (PAP) to continually reproduce an authoritarian regime stands in sharp contrast with the situation in Taiwan and South Korea. Yet there is nothing exceptional to this case because the country's political institutions, as elsewhere, are the product of dynamic social and political interests, conflicts and coalitions.

The article presents a comparative study of the popular mobilization and democratic transitions in South Korea and Taiwan in the 1980s. It presents a review of literature concerning the influence of labor mobilization on democratic transitions. It argues that the constructive role of social movements in democratic transition may have enduring effects on democratic reforms. It also explores the role of popular mobilization in democratization.