Chaebols and small and medium-sized capitalists: The forgotten players in korean and taiwanese democratization

The democratization process in Korea and Taiwan displays great disparities, although common conditions exist. Both countries were under the Japanese occupation; they displayed similar trends of economic growth, and they sensitively responded to any changes in international environment. The main argument in this paper is that in Korea and Taiwan, the capitalists, such as the chaebols and small and medium-sized capitalists, have played active roles in the process of democratization. This paper demonstrates the fact that historical characteristics, autonomy, and disintegration of the capitalists are the important variables that appropriately explain the democratization process in Korea and Taiwan.