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There is an ongoing debate on the usefulness of rational choice theory in analyzing political phenomena in the non-Western world as well as its usefulness in analyzing particular real world situations. Using institutional changes during the democratic transition in Korea, this book tests the application of rational choice theory in the analyses of real-world events in non-Western societies. This book will add to the accumulated knowledge to the study of democratic transition in Korea and in developing countries in general. This book will also help us to understand why seemingly strange set of events occurred in Korea and elsewhere when all political actors behaved in a rational fashion. By uncovering how politicians and policy-makers thought, behaved, and made decisions in the past, this book will contribute to our ability not only to explain what have occurred but to anticipate the course of political events in the future in developing countries undergoing democratic transition. TOC:Rational Choice, Area Expertise, and Democratic Transition in Developing Societies.- Kim's Dilemma and the Politics of Rivalry: An Analysis of the Democratic Opening and the 1987 Presidential Election.- Building a New Party System: The 1990 Party Merger.- A Theory of Government-Driven Democratization: The Kim Young-sam Years.- Party Preferences and Institutional Choices: A Search for a New Electoral System.- Uncertainty in Foreign Policy Making: Changing Relations among South Korea, North Korea, and the United States of America in the 21st Century.- A Risky Game to Play: The Politics of the Impeachment Game in 2004.- Concluding Remarks.
