hankyoreh

The Asia Future Forum kicked off on Nov. 10 under the theme “ Rebuilding Trust in the Fragmented Society” at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Grand Hall. (Shin So-young/The Hankyoreh)

For democracy to stand strong, political parties must be able to accept defeat with grace and honor.

That was the message delivered by Daniel Ziblatt, a professor of political science at Harvard University, at the 13th Asia Future Forum, which was hosted by the Hankyoreh on Thursday. Ziblatt is well-known in Korea as a co-author of the book “How Democracies Die.”

Democratic development depends upon a culture in which parties accept election results with humility and work hard to win the next election, he said.

Defeat at the polls provides an opportunity for parties to change through internal reform, said Ziblatt, who observed that a party’s goal should be being competitive at earning the choice of voters.

Ziblatt delivered the keynote address for the Asia Future Forum, which was held Thursday at the Grand Hall of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in downtown Seoul on the topic of “Rebuilding Trust in a Fragmented Society.” He said that the restoration of political trust and the development of democracy require “forbearance” from presidents and legislatures in exercising their constitutional rights.

According to Ziblatt, making maximal use of constitutional authority to crush the other side — what he calls “constitutional hardball” — undermines political trust and kindles controversy about political retaliation. It’s particularly difficult to build trust in presidential systems, given their winner-takes-all nature. What’s needed to overcome those institutional limitations, Ziblatt stressed, are mutual understanding and institutional forbearance.

In the second keynote address, Robert Putnam, a professor at Harvard University, and Noreena Hertz, an honorary professor at the Institute for Global Prosperity at the University College London, emphasized the government’s role in resolving the gradual disappearance of in-person contact in the digital era. They spoke of the importance of basic infrastructure that enables access to public goods, such as public libraries and parks.

Hertz also noted the phenomenon of younger Koreans’ hesitancy to engage in group activities, which she described as something that “must be overcome to build social trust.”

In his opening address, Kim Hyun-dae, president of the Hankyoreh Media Group, promised that the company would “fulfill the duty of the press in restoring social trust.”

The forum was attended by figures from the political and corporate worlds, the government, academia, and the nonprofit sector, including Chey Tae-won, chairperson of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and co-chairperson of the forum’s organizing committee, and Kim Eun-mee, president of Ewha Womans University.

Other notable people in attendance were Kim Jin-pyo, speaker of the National Assembly; Bang Moon-gyu, minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination (standing in for Prime Minister Han Duck-soo); Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party; Lee Jae-myung, head of the opposition Democratic Party; and Lee Jeong-mi, head of the Justice Party.

By Lee Chun-jae, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]