National Assembly Ranks "Failing Grade" in Integrity, Fairness, and Trust "There are many 'silent majorities' who hold negative views on politics"

Although the number of party members has rapidly increased to surpass 10 million, politics has fallen into a crisis. Voters hold an unfavorable view of politics. More than 6 out of 10 overall voters described themselves as being without a party affiliation (independent/unaligned), and among the 2030 generation, over 70% stated they "have no political party to support." This is interpreted as stemming from low trust in the National Assembly, fueled by a regression to an "animal national assembly" where harsh language, loud shouting, finger-pointing, and even verbal abuse run rampant.

Concerns are rising that the actions of hardcore supporters driven by YouTube and algorithms, along with politicians who follow suit, could further accelerate voter alienation.

According to the results of a social integration survey commissioned by the Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA) from Kstat Research—conducted via direct visits and face-to-face interviews with 8,305 adult men and women aged 19 and older nationwide from August 1 to September 30 of last year (replaced by self-administered questionnaires where preferred)—the proportion of unaligned voters who answered "there is no political party I support" stood at 61.9%. Meanwhile, responses saying "there is a party I support" stopped at 38.1%.

The proportion of unaligned voters showed significant differences across age groups. Among those in their 20s (ages 19–29), 78.6% responded they had no supporting party, and 72.8% of those in their 30s answered the same. For those in their 40s, 63.0% were unaligned, while 50s stood at 59.7%. Among those aged 60 and older, the proportions of voters without a supporting party (50.6%) and those with a supporting party (49.4%) were similar. (The margin of error is ±1.10 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.)

However, polls conducted by online polling agencies show the proportion of unaligned voters lingering around the 10% mark. In an automated response telephone survey conducted by Realmeter from the 1st to the 2nd targeting 1009 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, unaligned voters fell short of 10% (None: 8.3%, Don't know: 1.2%). In a ResearchView survey (September 28–30, 1000 people), unaligned voters similarly stopped at 11.2% (None: 10.0%, Don't know: 1.2%).

Ahn Il-won, CEO of ResearchView, noted, "People who are unaligned due to a lack of interest in politics, or those with a strong sense of aversion to the point of being sick of politics, do not participate in public opinion polls themselves," adding, "This means there is a not-insignificant 'silent majority' that is negative toward political parties or politics." He further remarked, "It is an environment where it is very difficult for voters to take an interest in political parties. Ultimately, it is a matter of trust, and the very perception of the National Assembly and political parties is extremely negative."

An official from Gallup Korea, which conducts telephone interview surveys, stated, "If you only ask whether they have a supporting party, a large number of unaligned voters appear. Even if you list the parties and ask which one they support, about 40% to 50% turn out to be unaligned. It is only when you additionally ask, 'Which party do you support even slightly?' that the proportion of unaligned voters drops to the 20% to 30% range." In Gallup Korea's public opinion poll conducted from the 15th to the 17th of last month, unaligned voters accounted for 25%.

The "silent majority" avoiding public opinion polls also appears to be quite substantial. According to the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission, looking at 10 public opinion polls conducted from the 27th of last month to the 3rd of this month, the response rates of those who picked up the phone and completed the survey to the end ranged from 2.0% to 5.8% for automated response telephone surveys, and 9.7% to 18.8% for telephone interview surveys. In most cases, response rates combined with contact failure cases were less than 1%.

The high proportion of unaligned voters and the phenomenon of political alienation appear to be directly connected to distrust in the National Assembly.

In the aforementioned KIPA survey, the trust rating for the National Assembly turned out to be at a failing grade level. Responses saying they "trust the National Assembly" stopped at 37.5% (somewhat trust 27.8%, highly trust 9.7%). Responses expressing distrust reached 62.5% (do not trust at all 26.3%, do not trust much 36.2%).

Responses stating that "the National Assembly fairly represents the interests of the public" stood at 52.1%, showing little difference from the responses saying "not really" (47.8%). Regarding integrity, opinions stating they "lack integrity" reached 64.9% (completely lack integrity 26.3%, lack integrity somewhat 38.6%).

Lee Hyun-woo, a chair professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Sogang University, pointed out, "Unlike in the past, the structure has rapidly changed into one where politicians speak and act according to the tastes of hardcore supporters. Consequently, harsh remarks and judgments are bound to emerge, moving politics and political parties into an atmosphere where it is difficult to win the affection of voters."

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]