Abstract
Lupia and McCubbins (1998) contend that uninformed principals can make a reasoned
choice with the help of credible speakers. The 2000 Korean election provides a unique
opportunity to test this persuasion model in that Korean NGOs offered voters critical
information by announcing a list of “unqualified” politicians. The main findings of this
paper are as follows: first, the effect of NGOs’ information was decisive among nonpartisan
voters; second, partisan voters who expected conflicting interests from NGOs’ persuasion
ignored the information in spite of their perception of the speaker’s credibility. These
findings suggest that sophisticated voters distinguish themselves from other voters even in
responses to persuasion from nonpartisan speakers.
Keyword: information, persuasion, NGOs, partisanship, regional voting behavior
Acronym
CAGE: The Civil Action for 2000 General Election (Chongsunyeondae)
GNP: Great National Party (Hannara Dang )
MDP: Millennium Democratic Party (Minju Dang)
ULD: United Liberal Democrats (Jayu Minju Yonmaeng)