[Citizen College] Paradox of Democratic Leadership

On April 20, “Citizen College: Citizens Between Life and Knowledge” Program, which consists of 16 lectures, was launched by Seongbuk Village Citizenship Education Center and the Korea University Peace and Democracy Institute(PDI). The first speaker was Professor Hong-Kyu Park, the Director of PDI. Professor Park showed that this program was prepared in order to fulfil the social responsibility of the university and communicate with the public.

The topic of the lecture was “Paradox of Democratic Leadership.” He explored the paradoxical phenomenon in which authoritarian leadership continues despite the introduction of a democratic system after democratization and sought a solution. First, He explained the institutional theory, the leader theory (anthropology), and the citizen participation theory as the theoretical basis for understanding. After that, he argued that this paradox was caused by the existence of an authoritarian legacy in our society and lack of efforts to cultivate political elites. In conclusion, Professor proposed a solution which is encouraging political leaders and citizens to study and discuss a lot. In response to citizen’s question about ‘the social way that politicians can be cultivated’, He answered that the field of political studies such as the citizen college should be steadily maintained. (Summary: Moon-Hyung Lee)