A deepening crisis of elite politics

If politics fail to take care of the basics like jobs and security, voters can turn their back anytime.

PARK HYEON-JUNThe author is an international news reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo. Even if borders divide countries, I sometimes feel that similar trends from different countries combine to create a stream of world history. Regardless of the value of that stream, similar human emotions and mindsets lead to such a phenomenon.

Sometimes, this trend is not so evident through major media outlets. In the United States, mainstream media such as the New York Times and CNN missed the traditionally Democratic South and the Rust Belt shifting to support the Republican Party over the past decade. While many articles called Trump “weird,” the supporters of the weird politician have become a big trend.

The trend is led by the working class who feel alienated compared to urban elites. Their driving forces are a sense of deprivation that they lost jobs to immigrants and refugees and the anger that political elites only reiterate noble values and can’t solve problems.

This is not just happening in America. In the recent two local elections in Germany, foreign media reported that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) party had sensational turnouts. The combined ratings of the two parties account for nearly half of the voters.

On the surface, German society seems to be split into the far-right and far-left, but the two parties have many similarities. Both parties say the money spent on immigrants and refugees should be for poor Germans, and they are negative about the urban elite agenda such as the “identity politics” of race and gender. Interestingly, both parties oppose assistance to Ukraine. As a result, they are in line with the U.S. Republican Party and its foreign policy. Similar trends are evident in France and the United Kingdom’s latest elections.

Some say that this trend in the United States and Europe is anti-intellectualism. It is undeniable that dangerous racism and nationalism are some of their driving forces. But we must not forget that the common foundation for this trend is the disappointment with the established parties led by urban, white collar, highly educated political elites. If politics fail to take care of the basics like jobs and security, voters can turn their back anytime.

Korea may not be an exception to this political trend. There is a possibility that the disappointment over the established politics can be expressed in some way. Are Korean political elites prepared for this? Polls show that the president and the governing party leader, both of whom are former prosecutors who passed a notoriously difficult exam, have rock bottom ratings. It is worrisome that Korean politicians are neglecting very important things.