한국 대통령제의 발전과 권력구조 개편: ‘4년 중임 정ㆍ부통령제’ 도입에 관한 소고

The current presidential system in South Korea under the five-year, single-term limitation with divided government, created after the democratization in 1987, often produced political gridlocks because of high levels of political conflicts between the president and the National Assembly. Indeed, presidents would become early lame ducks and subsequently lead to weak governing power, economic crisis, and social division causing people to feel nostalgic for autocratic governments. Given the national division and conservative-progressive conflict, this paper proposes a constitutional revision for the institutional development of the presidential system in South Korea to enhance presidential governability. In particular, this paper proposes an American-style presidential system including a four-year, two-term limitation and the creation of a vice-presidency by abolishing the current five-year single-term limitation and the position of Prime Minister. Abolishing the five-year single-term limitation enhances policy consistency and stability across presidents in South Korea by creating a ruling majority party by simultaneously holding the presidential and parliamentary elections. The creation of a vice-president also improves social and political integration because the vice-president represents regional and ideological harmonies among the people in South Korea. The social and political harmony of the people is the most essential part of presidential performance to success.